A Very Delko Life NEW TITLE
by ProDLnEC aka NLcsimiamifanatic
Summary: Christmas and life w/ Eric & Calleigh and their family! Read "A Gentle Nudge From A Child" for the background! ON HAITUS!
1. December 15 to 25

_I started this at Christmas last year but the hustle of the holidays gave me writers' block and I didn't finish it. Here goes!_

_**For now this is the awaited sequel to my ****A Gentle Nudge From A Child**** story**. Readers who haven't, should read that story first to fill in any blanks!_

_Enjoy and **please, please leave a review**!_

_**A Very Delko Holiday Season**_

_Part I_

_A Delko Family Christmas, the twins' first. Takes place prior to "The Deluca Motel." Chloe is six, Ethan is two-and-a-half_. _The twins, Nadya and Zachary are four-months-old._ _I liked the name Nadya before this whole Octo-mom circus!_

Eric Delko had always enjoyed the holiday season. He enjoyed it so much more since he had become a parent. For his wife Calleigh, the holidays themselves had only become truly enjoyable since they had started a family. She didn't have any happy memories of Christmas as a little girl. Her parents being drunks, things only got worse during the holidays when they thought they had an excuse to drink.

Six-year-old Chloe still believed in Santa Claus, though her parents thought she might be starting to be skeptical. Being the kind of child she was they knew she wouldn't spoil the fantasy of Santa for her little brother even she didn't believe. The second-grader often helped her parents wrap gifts for Ethan and the twins; both always made sure those were the gifts marked from mommy and daddy, not santa.

The day before, the eighteenth, had been the last day of school till January fifth. Chloe had $51.00 left to go Christmas shopping. Pop-pop had helped her count up the $31.00 she had in her piggy bank and then Nana had given her $20.00. Chloe had insisted she buy things herself. She had already bought presents for her siblings and uncle Horatio from the dollar store; a rattle each for the twins, a coloring book with a box of crayons for Ethan and pen and pencil set for Horatio. All of it had cost her $9.00. She wanted to get something really nice for both mom and dad. But she needed someone to take her shopping. Her grandparents couldn't because they were helping mommy with the babies and Ethan. Daddy was working. She called uncle Horatio to ask him if he could take her but there was no answer at his house. That was because he was on his way over to their house; he had no choice to take his mandatory vacation days before they expired by new years. He was bringing over the pile of presents he had for his four godchildren. They always bought a smile to his face.

_"Hi H!" She said when she answered the doorbell. "I just called you!"_

_"You did?"" Horatio said smiling, putting down the big box of gifts._

_"Yeah," she said, pulling him towards the corner of the porch. "Are you busy now? I need to buy presents for mommy and daddy. I got money," she said, showing him the bills her grandmother gave her in place of coins._

_"I'm not. You go ask mommy and if she says you can go, I'll be happy to take you."_

Calleigh asked her friend if he minded taking her child shopping, he said he'd be happy to do so she said yes. The mother thought her oldest was 'getting the short end of the stick' lately being the oldest and most independent. Between dealing with two infants and a toddler who wasn't at all thrilled with not being the baby anymore, Chloe seemed to get lost in the chaos. Not that she complained much. She only truly complained when Ethan wouldn't leave her alone _at all_ and she had no space to play alone.

Like today.

Ethan was bugging his sister all day and the twins were crying a lot so Calleigh was glad her oldest could get away for a while, especially when it was with her favorite uncle. She thought the little girl deserved some one-on-one attention, there was no doubt the child's godfather would dote on her. Horatio showered all the kids with love and attention but he and Chloe were especially close. Horatio told Calleigh he even take Chloe to a movie. There was a matinee showing of _Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas_ in theaters just for the holidays.

"Don't worry, I'll have her back before bedtime," Horatio said.

Calleigh smiled. "No problem. You two have fun."

At Walmart, Chloe bought a sterling silver charm bracelet for her mom and the DVD _The Pirates of the_ _Caribbean II: Dead Man's Chest _for her dad. She was too young to watch the movie herself but she heard her dad liked it. After her shopping Chloe had $2.43 left, that went into a gumball machine. She and Horatio were finished shopping by 1:45pm. They ate at her favorite Chinese restaurant and then went to theaters where Horatio let Chloe have all the candy, popcorn and soda her six-year-old belly could hold.

It was after 5:00 when they returned to the Delko home. Eric had arrived home a short time earlier. The twins were down for their three-hour nap before their next feeding and Pavel was giving Ethan a bath. Eric's parents were staying the night so both their son, who had to work in the morning and daughter-in-law who had her hands full at home, who were utterly exhausted could get a full, uninterrupted night of sleep. They hasn't asked Chloe yet but Eric and Calleigh were sure she wouldn't mind if nana and pop-pop took her room for the night (she had a double bed). She would get to stay in with them.

They were right.

_"Mommy and daddy haven't got to spend much time with you lately. We missed you," Calleigh said, picking up the little girl in her arms and kissing her nose, the child's legs wrapping around her waist. "You've been so good with your brother. I know he gets on your nerves sometimes. We're proud of you."_

_They decided to give Chloe one of her Christmas presents early, the DVD of the movie Wall-E. The little girl had wanted to see the movie when it was in theaters but hadn't got the chance to._

_"We can watch it together tonight when you're ready for bed," Eric said, tussling the child's hair. He took the girl from his wife and gave her a big hug. _

_Chloe had seen daddy even less in the past few days. He had taken some extra shifts, so he could have the twenty-fourth through to the twenty-seven off with his wife and kids. _

Christmas Day's dinner at his parents was going to be a little quieter this year. As usual, there would be no Marisol; she was spending Christmas in Jamaica. Paloma and Gil weren't going to be there with four-year-old Elijah because Gil's family was visiting. The couple had wed eight weeks ago while on a trip Niagra Falls, New York. Their little boy was the only witness, and was very proud of that. The two also had managed to conceive a "honeymoon" baby while up north despite not having a babysitter. Rachel, her two boys and her husband Carlos weren't going to be there this year. They were spending Christmas in Illinois with Carlos' family. Pavel had invited Horatio to come too, since the crime lab supervisor was considered family and would still be on his mandatory vacation.

_The man will microwave a t.v. dinner otherwise,_ Eric's father thought.

The lieutenant had hesitated but then Chloe had climbed into his lap and said "please, Uncle Horatio?" The tough cop could never resist those big brown eyes. He said he would come, he wasn't ashamed to admit being with Calleigh and Eric's children made him forget all his demons, even if it was just for a little while.

* * *

Chloe was excited as she crawled into her parents' bed. Calleigh was making sure her in-laws knew where everything needed was for the twins and checking on Ethan for the last time before the three watched the movie. She was so hoping for some uninterrupted time with her oldest child. Ethan was a solid sleeper and once he was asleep he was out for the night. He had to be tonight. Like Chloe at that age, the boy _almost_ never throw temper tantrums because he quickly would find that behavior wouldn't tolerated. But today he had thrown a few and had been in time-out more then often then not. The tantrums no doubt tired him out.

_"Move over," Eric said, giving his daughter a playful shove, toppling her over. "Move over, I said. You're hogging the bed."_

_Chloe giggled. She shrieked with laughter as her dad tickled her and then wrapped her in a bear hug, kissing her cheeks. _

_"I love you, mi princesa," he whispered in her ear._

_"I love you, too, daddy."_

* * *

Calleigh smiled when she walked back into the room seeing Chloe play with Eric. Everyday she was grateful for Eric and their kids. Still she knew things had been turned out different between them six years ago that Eric would still have done an incredible job raising Chloe alone. Some people had often she said to Calleigh how there was no doubt she must love Chloe but not "as much or the same way" she loved Ethan or the twins. It made her _so_ mad. Calleigh would die protecting or kill someone to protect Chloe's life. And if despite that something happened to the six-year-old even though she knew she would have to go on for the sake of her other children but Calleigh felt she would die from a broken heart.

"Have you ever seen real snow, daddy?" Chloe asked.

The two were watching _Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer_. Eric was sitting no the end of the sofa, Chloe was laid down with her head on his lap. Ethan had fallen asleep while watching _Frosty, the Snowman_ which was on before and Eric had put him to bed upstairs. After _Rudolph_, _Dr. Suess's How the Grinch Stole Christmas_ was on.

"Nope. I've been to places where they have snow but it was at the wrong time of year. Uncle H has. He grew up in New York City. It snows there. You should ask him about it when he comes here on Christmas. He's coming to Nana and Pop-pop's for Christmas dinner than he's coming here so you guys can show him everything Santa bought you."

"What 'bout you, mama?" The bare-foot, pyjama-clad girl asked Calleigh who had just walked into the room.

"What, sweetheart?" Calleigh said, sitting on the other end of the sofa, taking her daughter's feet and putting them in her lap. She hadn't heard the conversation.

"Have you ever seen real snow? Does it snow where you grew up?"

"Nope. No snow in Louisiana. But I saw snow when I visited Chicago once. That's where Jose and Diego are spending Christmas."

Eric and Calleigh had decided that their friend was _not_ going to spend the day alone, and an invitation to play with their kids was something Horatio couldn't resist. The presents that he got for the children alone were going to make their parents' mouths Chloe's love of Lego blocks, (she already had two 1000 piece sets and could build anything and contrary to what her parents might say, you could never have 'too many ' lego blocks), Horatio had bought the six-year-old a _Lego City_ Police Station Set, a jigsaw puzzle, _Kung Fu Panda_ DVD and a plush dog. For Ethan, he bought a _Tonka _Fire Truck that had lights and made different sounds, a set of _Hot Wheels_, A _Thomas the Train_ DVD and a plush dinosaur. Shopping for four-month-old twins was a more daunting task; the lieutenant had gone with an outfit and a set of pajamas, a set of teething rings and pacifiers and $25 gift certificate, for each baby.

Eric and Calleigh let their two oldest children open the gifts from Uncle Horatio when he came over on the day of twenty-third. Nadya and Zachary didn't understand the season yet.

"_Lord, Horatio!_" Calleigh said.

"A bit much, H," Eric said. "You _didn't_ have to get them _that much_."

Not that the parents were worried about being outdone; Chloe had a new bike, a new soccer net and ball for the backyard. Ethan had a big wheel and a basketball net his size. They had bought the kids a new swingset and slide for the backyard. Santa had bought Ethan a train set, A _Thomas_ one, of course and Chloe got a Nintendo Dsi and a few games. The twins had lots of toys that lit up and played music, both from Santa and their parents.

"Which answer is better?" Horatio said with a smile. "I can do what I want 'cause you guys made me their godfather or I can do what I want 'cause I'm your boss?"

"Point taken," Calleigh smiled.

* * *

Being a devout Catholic Chlorinda was hoping that her son and his wife take their kids to the Christmas Eve church service. But she was to be disappointed. Eric couldn't remember the last time he had been to church, and didn't feel ashamed of it. Calleigh wasn't Catholic, she was not raised in any organized religion. None of the kids had been baptized because they didn't plan to raise the kids under any particular religion. As far as taking the kids to church now, the couple thought the twins and Ethan were too young and in general, they wanted to let the kids decide if they wanted to attend church and their six-year-old girl had decided she didn't want to go.

Uncle Horatio was going to take care of the kids while the couple went to mass with Eric's parents. Nadya woke up for a bottle and diaper change just as Horatio arrived.

"Let me," he said when he heard his youngest goddaughter cry.

The lieutenant had the baby girl fed, changed and settled back down in twenty minutes. Her twin brother woke up fifteen minutes later and was settled down in about the same time. Neither parent minded at all hearing, through the baby monitor, Horatio softly talk to the babies and give them lots of kisses.

"Could you move in?" Calleigh said, laughing when Horatio came back into the room. "They _never_ go down that quick for either of us!"

Horatio couldn't help but smile when Calleigh and Eric returned when Eric told him that Chlorinda Delko said that Horatio that his father said unless there was case at the lab that Horatio didn't come over for dinner the following day, Pavel was going to Horatio's house and dragging him over by his collar.

"I'll be there. What time?"

A roast turkey dinner with a family who accepted him as one of their own on Christmas Day did make the redhead smile but even if they were going to eat canned tuna, getting a chance to play with four of his favorite children and hear about what Santa bought them was something he wouldn't miss unless duty called.

* * *

_Christmas Day_

Zachary and Nadya Delko would eventually get enjoyment out of the presents Santa and their parents bought them but right now they were happy to set in their swings and watch their excited older siblings play with their new toys. The day the elder Delkos' might have been _quieter_ than previous years but it wasn't _that_ quiet. The house was four children less but there were still four children under seven there.

And _Eric's_ children at that, the grandparents joked.

Of the four children Chloe was most like her dad, in every way. Ethan looked as much like his dad but had more of his mother's personality.

And her temper.

Like Calleigh, when Ethan got mad, he _definitely_ made it known and on most occasions he would stay that way for a while. Eric and Chloe, or at least, the 'new' Eric, the person he was after he was shot, certainly got mad but after a short time and blowing off steam things were forgotten. Eric teased his wife that the only reason she didn't have temper tantrums was because of how it would look, being a grown woman and all. Sometimes Eric teased his wife, even in front of their friends and in the privacy of their workplace walls, asking her if she needed to"go in the corner and have a time-out?"

That often got Eric a smack in the face or a playful "oh, shut it, _dear_."

Chlorinda Delko didn't know who was having more fun playing with Chloe's new Dsi and the _Super Mario Brothers_ game, her granddaughter or Horatio Caine.

"Maybe you should've got him one, too," she joked.

Roberta or "Aunt B," Calleigh's aunt and the children's surrogate grandmother visited for a while in the evening. Ethan Delko was overtired and over-stimulated by 7:00pm. However, he did not want to go to bed. He pulled away from his father when Eric tried to lead him upstairs to get his pajamas on.

"No! Me 'tay up!" He said.

The toddler didn't like it at all when his father then picked him up to take him up to his bedroom when he refused to walk. He struggled to get out of Eric's grasp to no avail. Judging from the tantrum the boy was gearing up for as he was carried away he was certainly going to get two minutes in the corner once he were upstairs. Roberta chuckled when the boy were out of sight.

"If I closed my eyes, I'd swear that was you at two," she said.

Calleigh smiled. "Yeah, he's quite a lil' firecracker."

Eric returned downstairs twenty minutes later.

"What ya leave him to cool off?" Roberta asked.

Eric shook his head.

"He's asleep. He was out for the count in ten minutes."

This time Ethan's tantrum was mostly because he was tired. That was why he fell asleep so fast as well.

Chloe was already in her pajamas though she didn't have to be in bed for another two hours. She was busy showing Auntie another one of her Dsi games, _Little Monster Private Eye: The Mummy Game_. The little girl was pleased to be playing a character in a game who did something like mommy and daddy's jobs.

"Are you and me gonna take your new bike out for a spin tomorrow?" Eric asked a sleepy Chloe while tucking her into bed.

Chloe nodded.

"Quite a day, huh?" Calleigh yawned when her husband exited their older daughter's bedroom.

"For sure," Eric said, giving his wife's shoulders a squeeze and kissing the side of her head. "And I imagine the next few days are gonna be just as eventful."

"Your ribs all right?" Calleigh asked, wrapping her arms lightly around her husband.

That morning Eric had been awaken at 7:05am by two small bodies landing on his rib cage and the chorus of "it's _Christmas!_"

"I'm all right. They didn't land too hard. But what do ya think about changin' bedsides?"

The only reason that the children had landed on their father was because Eric's side of the bed was closest to the door, Calleigh's faced the wall.

"Not a chance, _pal_!" His wife replied.

_**Next: More holiday fun with the Delko family!**_


	2. Boxing Day

_**A Very Delko Christmas**_

_Part II_

_Boxing Day_

Ethan Delko grinned sitting on the floor playing with his new "twain" set with his dad. It was 8:45 in the morning. He and his dad were the only ones up yet. The twins had both woken up for a bottle and a diaper change and were now down for their forty-five minute nap. The boy was much enjoying some time with his daddy. Both were still in their pyjamas, Ethan in a blue pair of _Thomas the Train_ pyjamas and Eric in a gray wifebeater and navy flannel lounging pants, both were barefoot. Calleigh had got up with Eric to tend to their twins and had gone back to bed to relax and read for a bit before all the kids were up and about for the day. Her parents thought Chloe were still asleep in her room but she wasn't. She was awake and playing her Dsi, enjoying being able to do so without her little brother looking over her shoulder and asking _"wus dat? 'Emme see!" _

At 9:30 Eric knocked lightly on his daughter's bedroom door and looked in.

"Hey princesa. You want some breakfast?" It hadn't surprised Eric that Chloe had been taking some time to play with her game in peace

"'Kay," Chloe said, turning off her game, closing it and getting off the bed."Can we go out on my bike soon, papi?"

The couple knew that time with their infant twins was essential but so was time their older children. Roberta was coming over shortly to look after the twins while Eric took Chloe out on her new bike and Calleigh and Ethan tried out his basketball hoop in the driveway. The older woman told the parents that they should never feel any guilt about getting someone else take care of the twins while they gave Chloe and Ethan some attention and quality time.

"You _do_ spend time with them. They certainly know you love them," she told the couple. "You guys have _four_ children under seven, the twins have to share you with Ethan and Chloe, even if they are only four months old."

The couple had to agree.

_They had been fortunate with the twins. Because it was a multiple pregnancy Calleigh was automatically considered high-risk. But the pregnancy progressed normally for it was being twins. They found out they were having fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, eight weeks before the twins arrived. Calleigh hoped that she wouldn't have to undergo a c-section, despite the fact she was having two babies. she wanted to have a vaginal delivery if possible. She knew regardless the birth would have to take place in the operating room as precaution. _

_And this time, twins or not, she was __**getting an Epidural**__. The thought of their children's birthday being "scheduled" by an elective or even medically necessary induction bothered the couple some but their children's health was paramount to both without it being said. But that turned out that wasn't to be an issue; Calleigh went into labor naturally at thirty-eight weeks. __And she avoided a c-section, both babies were in the right position. She was active labor for six hours before she were moved to the O.R. . Eric's wife pushed for a half hour before Zachary was born. Nadya was born seventeen minutes later. Both babies weighed over six pounds, were in perfect health and joined their siblings at home just three days after birth._

"Sure," Eric told Chloe. "Auntie is going to be here shortly to make sure that Zach and Nadya are happy, then me and you will go out on your bike, all right?"

Having spent the morning with his daddy playing with his "twain" set, coloring and then reading a story Ethan now wanted to play with his mommy. Calleigh looked forward to playing with her toddler son.

Zachary, "Zach" to his dad and Nadya were both a mix of their parents. Both had Eric's complexion and brown eyes. Zach had his mother's mouth. So did his twin sister who had the same nose as their mom. Personality-wise so far the two babies seemed very easy-going, like their older two kids. Ethan had his temper but that was just like his mom, occasionally. If the two thought life were hectic with two children, when they bought the twins home they shortly found out that having two newborns was completely chaotic, at least Chloe and Ethan slept through the night.

Even at the present Nadya and Zachary were not on the same schedule. Their parents were trying to accomplish that simply for sanity sake. But now they were sleeping for three hours at a time at night, giving their parents at least enough sleep to function. With the help of Aunt B and Eric's parents they were able to get some additional rest and be able to play with their toddler and six-year-old and be able to catch up on the their lives.

And have some, though limited, time for each other.

"You ever thought we'd have all this?" Calleigh asked, putting a finally sleeping Zach in his crib.

Nadya had preferred to fall asleep that night laying in the crib but gripping her father's right hand. Eric smiled and carefully maneuvered his fingers from his infant child's grip. Even with the fact he always wanted to be a husband and dad if he sat back and thought about it never in a million years had he thought he'd find someone he loved the way he loved Calleigh, let alone have such a wonderful family.


	3. Father & Son Time Dec 27th REVISED

_**Father-Son Time**_

_Part III_

Ethan Delko was enjoying the swing set that his parents had bought as a Christmas gift. Today he was mad at his big sister because she wasn't letting him play with her new toy. Her Dsi. And worse, mommy and daddy agreed with her, telling him it was a toy for bigger kids and he was too young to play with it. The boy with his mother's temper did not like that at all. First thing he said to not being allowed to play with Chloe's Dsi was then Chloe couldn't play on the swing set.

When daddy and mommy replied that yes, Chloe could because the swing set was given for _both_ of them, the boy said "den she tan't play wit my twain set!"

Both adults had to hide a smile at that.

"Oh, that'll show her!" Eric chuckled to Calleigh as their toddler stomped from the room.

They were sure Chloe would be fine with that, being she was old enough to begin to think _Thomas_ was for "babies," kids Ethan's age. Time with daddy on the new swing set seemed to make the boy forget about the Dsi incident. Today was Eric's last day off for the holidays. He was returning to work tomorrow. It was on a Tuesday, with luck he wouldn't be called in on New Year's Eve. This year he and Calleigh planned to spend it at home with family. His parents and if he knew what was good for him, Horatio would be over. Eric's sisters would be still spending time with their in-laws. Last New Year's Eve, he and Calleigh went out a ball at a hotel and spent the night there. Horatio babysat.

They were convinced that they conceived their twins that night.

"Daddy, do mommy go back to da wab 'morrow, too?" Ethan asked as Eric pushed him in the swing.

"No, buddy," Eric replied. "Mom doesn't go back to the lab for while."

When Calleigh did return to work, in another eight months, it was on a part-time basis. She had already made the arrangements. Things would be tight with now four children and less money but it more important for the children to have one of their parents home, at least on a part-time basis. And most importantly Calleigh didn't feel _forced_ to work less because she now had two more children. Since she had become a mother six years ago, her view on life had changed. She indeed still had passion for the job she did but now it was just that. A job. Her true career and main role in life was being a parent. It was difficult enough for leaving for work on a full-time basis when it was just Chloe and Ethan. She couldn't imagine it with them plus Nadya and Zachary. Plus far from "going crazy" being at home Calleigh enjoyed being in the house and taking care of her kids. She would rather have the noise and mess of her children over a crime scene any day. She was glad she had eight more months of maternity leave.

Ethan was very sad to see his daddy go back to bed the next morning. Roberta was arriving at 8:00am and the boy were in tears in Eric's arms.

"I no want 'ou to go, daddy," he sobbed.

"I know, sweetheart," Eric said, wiping the boy's tears. "But I'll be home later. Then you and me will play with your train, okay?"

"And eat cookies?" The boy asked, brightening some.

"And eat cookies," Eric nodded.

Ethan cheered up quickly after his father left. Calleigh and Eric were sure at least one of their older children was going to cry when Eric left that morning. Chloe didn't cry when Eric scooped her up in his arms and gave her a big kiss and hug.

"Te amo, princesa." he whispered.

"Te amo, tambien, papi," Chloe said.

"Sea bueno por mami, bien? Hasta luego."

"Bien, papi."

The school bus came for Chloe moments after Eric left.

Roberta was only too happy to help her niece, whom she long looked at like a daughter care for her four small children. She always marveled at how even with the hectic pace of their jobs how their children were the center of their lives. Some people worked to keep their homes pristine, like show pieces, even when they had four children, which included infant twins but the Delkos knew that was impossible without even trying. Their home was always clean but "lived in." Roberta often pitched in, doing laundry and other housework, the "meaningless work," as she called it so the parents could attend to the "much more important" task of tending to their children and their needs. Calleigh had always said if she ever saw or felt her children were missing out because of the time she spent at her job, she would quit in a heartbeat, regardless of the financial bind it might cause. She had no qualms about going back to work on a strictly part-time basis in eight months.

_How wonderful a mom Calleigh was to all her kids hadn't surprised Roberta one bit. But it had surprised her how well both Calleigh and Eric handled it when on December first, the couple had received a legal notice that Chloe's biological mother was attempting to overturn Calleigh's adoption of the 6-year-old, as well as Eric's custody of the child if she succeeded. The final shock, she wanted to rename the girl. The two were stunned. _

_While they tried to grasp the situation and contacted their attorney Roberta tended to the children. Daddy and mommy acted like everything was normal, or tried to. The children seemed oblivious to the situation. As of right now they weren't telling Chloe anything. While they thought that the woman had no case and the attorney told them that, the fact she still had any chance bothered and frankly frightened them. Their attorney had managed to get the motion hearing moved up for seven days later, "on account it was almost Christmas and the fact that the couple had three younger children."_

_The hearing at the family court was brief. Fifty-seven minutes._

_Alissa Dobbin, formerly known as Melissa Jakobs, did not profess any affection for the girl, or any intention of wanting to get to know her. She wasn't even sure of the child's given name till her attorney had told her. She told the judge without any hesitation now that the "girl" were "about grown" that she, Melissa 'deserved' to "a) name a kid she popped out b) have her name on the kid's birth certificate and c) have a kid live with her. Should she win, she planned to immediately cut Eric Delko, his wife and their three children out of Chloe's life. She also planned to immediately rename the girl Tara Marie Dobbin and remove her from the Miami area "without delay." She also stated she would impose a strict rule to the girl that she was now forbidden to speak Spanish. S__he planned to hire live-in nanny to care for the child daily. Money she won from a lottery ticket would help her do this, as would the child's support she would seek from Eric Delko, even if he was not permitted to see or contact his child._

_The family attorney had to say little. Only this family was the only one Chloe Delko knew. Eric Delko was the child's biological father, he had rights, as did Calleigh Delko, the child now-legal mother. The child had the right to the peaceful, stable life she was living. To be plucked from this would be "devastating" to all involved and cause Chloe permanent emotional damage. If the court wanted to impose a visitation arrangement, they wanted it to supervised by a child psychologist._

_The judge then raised his hand and stated he were ready to rule._

_The first thing he stated was "where the hell" the woman got notion that Chloe was "about grown"? The child was six-years-old, was just beginning to learn to read and only recently lost her first tooth. She was still very much a child with many years before she became an adult, or even close to it. Even **if** the woman's rights were to be reinstated, a) she would not be permitted to change the child's name. The fact the woman wanted to, showed her true nature b) changing the child's custody would be out of the question. The most she would be given was professionally supervised access. With that out of the way, h__e called the woman now known as Alissa Dobbin, a "disgusting, despicable" individual. He said he saw through her motives. Alissa had seen Chloe was a happy, well-adjusted child living with her father, mother and siblings and the fact she had 'absolutely nothing' to do with that and was mad. Melissa hadn't had a wonderful childhood herself, so she believed her biological child shouldn't have one either. He was denying all her motions with prejudice._

_"The child's name is Chloe Gabriella Delko, not Tara Marie Dobbin or anything else. And you are not her mother, in anthing other than biology. The child sees Calleigh Duquesne-Delko as her mother, as does this court. Chloe is exactly where she is supposed to be."_

_His honor said __**if **_Alissa _had showed a vastly different demeanor that __**maybe **__he would have been persuaded to ask the parents for a supervised visitation arrangements but there was no chance of __that now. He was issuing a order that she stay away from Chloe and her family. Non-compliance of this order would result in prison time._

_"And since you ever so happily bragged of your lottery win, you can easily afford a $1000 fine for wasting this court's time, $5000 for the pain and suffering you caused this family as well as their legal fees," the judge further stated. "As much as I am sure they would have spent thousand times more this amount to keep their family together I'm sure they didn't need this expense, especially this time of year."_

_The couple were elated with the ruling. The fact that the judge ordered the pain and suffering money and then their legal fees paid was a shock. The judge was right, they would have spent thousands more to fight this fight and worry about how they would pay for Christmas and their legal bills later. But now they could enjoy Christmas. Unbeknownst to them though, hearing of the couple's plight secretly planned to pay for the children's Christmas if their parents could not._

_Upon the ruling when the judge left the courtroom the couple and their lawyer had heard Melissa's attorney ask her if she wanted to appeal the rulings. Melissa shook her head. It wasn't worth "wasting the rest of the lottery cash." She said she had mostly done this to cause the couple pain and anxiety. Hopefully "the girl" had been just upset as "them." "It was worth the show to see Eric so scared during the hearing and then nearly cry like a girl" at the end of it._

_"We have our daughter," Eric said, hugging his wife when he saw anger flash in her eyes at Melissa. "That's all that matters."_

_The rest of the team saw red hearing about the motion. No one, other than Chloe's parents and grandparents was more angry than Horatio. He and the rest of the team had been sitting the courtroom for support for their friends. And it was over his dead body that Chloe was over going to be given to this woman, even if the family had to flee the country. Something on the normal basis Horatio Caine would never condone. _

_Yes, Eric Delko shed a few tears following the ruling but he had been so terrified at the prospect of losing his little girl, he couldn't help it. The fact that the loss could be to such a person had made it even more frightening._

_At the Delko Residence Roberta was looking after Ethan and the twins, trying not to appear as upset as she felt. But every time the phone rang the woman jumped. When Calleigh called at 11:05am the older woman's heart pounded in her ears. Luckily, Ethan, Zach and Nadya were taking their nap. _

_"What did the judge say?" She asked anxiously._

_"In short, he told Melissa to go and crawl back under the rock she came from. To leave Chloe alone or go to jail. He also told her she had to pay for wasting the court's time, for the pain and suffering she caused us and then our legal fees."_

_"That's wonderful, sweetheart," Roberta said._

_Roberta hung up the phone and proceeded to go to the bathroom to vomit. Calleigh would do the same when she got home._

_By the time Eric picked up Chloe from school things had calmed in the home. The six-year-old thought it was strange that her dad to got out of the car and lifted her into his arms, hugging her before carrying her to passenger side, opening the door and placing her inside. Whatever the reason the child definitely enjoyed the attention. _

"Life's back to normal 'round here, huh?" Roberta said to Calleigh, smiling, watching Ethan attempt to pour his own cereal and spilling excess fruit loops on the table.

Calleigh knew what the woman was referring to, even if the children didn't.

"It is, thank goodness," Calleigh smiled.

_**Translations**_

_Feel free to correct me! Gracias!_

To amo, princesa - I love you, princesa

Te amo, tambien, papi - I love you, too, daddy

Sea bueno por mami, bien? Hasta Luego. - Be good for mommy, okay? I'll see you later

Bien, papi - okay, daddy.


	4. Holiday Recovery Dec 28th

_**Holiday Recovery**_

_Part IV_

"The kids enjoy Christmas?" Tim Speedle asked his friend when he arrived at the lab.

Although the couple had invited him to come to their home during Christmas they weren't surprised when he didn't show but sent a _Toys R Us _gift card for each of the children through Horatio.

As close as they were, Eric didn't know that much about Tim's childhood. The only thing he really knew was that his friend were an only child and seldom spoke to his parents who still lived in New York. Tim had told his friend that he hadn't left home on the best of terms. Tim hadn't been back there in eight years. The family atmosphere at the Delko house would probably make him uncomfortable. The CSI had worked through the holidays also taking shifts for others who wanted time off.

"They did," Eric replied. "Chloe said to say 'thank you' for gift card. She said she's gonna buy another Dsi game with it."

Tim, known as 'Speed' to his friends and co-workers was glad that the family had been able to relax and enjoy the season with worrying about any trauma ahead, mainly another hearing in which they could have lost Chloe and had their world ripped apart. Relief had washed over him as well as when the judge had dismissed Melissa Jakobs,' case or whatever she was called now since she had legally changed her name. Tim had been there in the nightclub the night Eric first met Melissa or Alissa, whatever her name. He would never judge his friend because if the woman had to approach him that night, he would have had sex with her and probably more times than Eric had.

Sleeping with the same woman as his best friend was a no-no, even if the woman was a 'fling' or one-night stand. At least Speed thought that way. Still it never failed to amaze Tim Speedle that a woman like that had even a _small_ part in creating such a wonderful child like Chloe Delko. The little girl was perfect example of nurture prevailing over nature.

* * *

"I never thought you'd be getting a call to pick up diapers before you came home," Tim chuckled, closing the passenger side door after getting into Eric's SUV.

Speed's transportation, his precious yellow Ducati motorcycle was parked in the underground parking garage and wouldn't start. He would leave it there till the next morning. Eric would give him a drive home after stopping at the store to buy baby formula and diapers. Their twins went through a grueling eighty or so diapers per week, per baby. Then there was the baby formula cost per week and the pull-ups Ethan wore.

The parents were grateful for Sam's club.

But no matter what the weekly costs, Eric or Calleigh wouldn't change the size of their family for the world.

"Good god, man," Tim whistled when Eric exited Sam's Club fifteen minutes after he went in, a case of baby formula under one arm and a big box of diapers, marked '180' in the other and a pack of pull-ups hanging off his index finger. "How long ya shopping for?"

"Seven days, about," Eric smiled.

"You have to be kidding!"

Eric shook his head, amused.

"Do the math, pal," he answered with a smile. "Nadya and Zach go through eight to ten diapers a day and six bottles a day."

And don't get him started on the amount laundry that went through the house.

The parents tried as often they could to refer to the infants by their names, not as "the twins." Though being twins the two babies were obviously _very_ close already and right now shared a nursery, they were indeed individuals.

"Wow," was all Tim could say.

As busy as the couple were kept with diapers and feedings with Zach and Nadya, the two refused to make Chloe into a "mini-parent" to make their lives easier when Roberta wasn't there. Some people appeared surprised at the couple's passionate reaction whenever they were asked "don't you get your daughter to help out with the babies?"

"Absolutely not!" was their reply.

The six-year-old hadn't an idea how to make a bottle or change a diaper and her parents planned to keep it that way. At most the girl was asked to momentarily entertain a baby once in a while. As far as chores went for the girl went, she had to make her bed, keep her room clean and help mommy or whoever was doing it, put the dinner dishes in the dishwasher. That was it.

"And just wait till they start eatin' more stuff," Tim teased.

"Oh, shut up, Speed," Eric laughed.

"Look, daddy's home!" Calleigh said to Nadya.

Nadya smiled in her mom's arms when she pointed to her dad entering the room.

"There's two of my pretty girls," Eric smiled back at them, walking over and giving them both a kiss. "I missed you guys, today."

"We missed you, too," Calleigh murmured, kissing her husband in return. "I can think of a lil' man who really, really missed you."

"_DADDY!"_ Ethan screamed running into the kitchen, barreling into his father's legs before Eric scooped him up.

Baby Nadya wasn't startled by her bother's loud entrance. She and Zach were used to the noise of the house, having been hearing it since they were three-days-old.

"Hey hijo," Eric said to Ethan, tickling him. "Did you miss me?"

Ethan nodded.

"Are we gonna play now?" he asked.

Eric smiled.

"After dinner, okay, bud?" he replied.

It was easy to get Ethan to eat six bites of his chicken and three bites of vegetables at the dinner table that evening, the boy knowing that after he finished eating he would play with his dad. Her younger siblings would be in bed by 7:30pm then Chloe could show her dad a new level she had reached on her _Super Mario Brothers_ game on her Dsi.

"I'll see you in a little bit, okay, princesa?" Eric said, kissing Chloe's cheek, she was still sitting at the table, eating grape jello for dessert.

"Okay, daddy," she said.

Zach and Nadya were in a playpen in the far corner of the kitchen while the other four ate. They had dinner earlier than everyone else. Chloe was helping her mom put the dishes into the dishwasher when she noticed her siblings. They were asleep, their little arms wrapped around each other. This was quite a common thing with the two babies. Eric and Calleigh were told by some people this was a "twin thing."

"Mom, look," she said to Calleigh.

Calleigh smiled at the sight. She wasn't surprised to see the babies sleeping like that. Any time they were put in the same crib together they would end up like that. She wasn't surprised to see the two were asleep either, her attempts to get to take their afternoon nap were in vain. Neither baby awoke when they were placed in their own cribs. Calleigh didn't mind that Eric spent time with their children when he got home from work, even if she hadn't seen him all day. She got her "me-time" then and the kids deserved to see dad, they missed him today. Plus, after 9:00pm, Eric were all hers.


	5. Parental Fun Dec 29th

_**You want WHAT? & Parent Play**_

_Night of the 28__th__ & the 29__th_

_Part V_

_Mommy and Daddy Delko have a little of their own holiday fun! _

_**Rated M just to be safe!**_

"I want a Dsi for my birthday," Eric announced, sitting next to his wife on the sofa.

"_What?_" Calleigh replied, bursting out laughing.

"A Dsi like Chloe's got. And one of those _Mario_ games. They're so cool!" her husband repeated.

"How old are you? Shouldn't you be asking your mommy and daddy?" Calleigh teased.

"I would. But see, after I got married they said _my wife _had to buy my toys," Eric grinned.

Calleigh threw a sofa cushion at him.

"_You're such a kid! _Chloe's asleep, isn't she? Maybe you can play with her Dsi now," she replied.

"Maybe later," Eric replied, pouncing on his wife and kissing her lips hard. "But I rather _play_ with you."

There was no worry of a fifth little Delko.

_It wasn't anyone's business but Eric had undergone a vasectomy two months prior. Though the couple thought four children was enough for them, if Eric turned out to one of small percentage of patients where there was still "occasional sperm" and Calleigh got pregnant again, another child would be unexpected and not planned but definitely not "unwanted."_

_Even after four children and with the slight possibility of a fifth, Eric could still make Calleigh scream, or tonight, moan in ecstacy, to keep from waking the children since they were not in the privacy of their bedroom behind a locked door. Her husband had always been a very skilled lover. She often privately joked that if it was for birth control god knows how many children the two would have. The two managed to have their clothing back on by midnight. Either neither of their older children had got out of bed and witnessed their parents' 'playing' or they had and returned to bed without a word, probably trying to banish the image from their brains. _

Just as they had their clothes on they heard a cry from the baby monitor.

"I bet you that's Nadya," Calleigh said.

"Yeah. She missed her bottle earlier," Eric replied.

After Nadya was settled again, Zach woke up. That was no surprise. The parents hadn't accomplished their goal of getting the two babies on the same schedule yet but they were getting close, at least four nights a week anyway.

_Remembering when the couple were told that Calleigh was carrying two babies they could laugh out-loud. The medical staff must have thought the two were either deaf or plain stupid. Eric had come to the appointment like he usually did, however the two were worried since the doctor had said that something had showed up in Calleigh's blood tests and she wanted to perform an ultrasound. The physician assured the frightened couple that there wasn't technically 'wrong.' Pointing at the two circles on the screen as she moved the wand on Calleigh's abdomen, she said "congratulations! It's twins!"_

_The technician and doctor both laughed when they had to repeat the twin news to the couple six times, three times per parent. _

All the kids asleep again the two continued their fun in their bedroom, behind the safety of a locked door. Calleigh could afford to let her screams escape with their bedroom walls being double-insulated. It was worth it for both to be so exhausted the next day. Ever the keen observers, Ethan and Chloe both wanted why mom and dad seemed so tired the following morning. Times like this made the couple regret that their children appeared to inherit their parents' CSI instincts. Roberta knew all about why the two were tired, after hearing Zach and Nadya slept well. She hid a smile watching them. She thought it was great that the two could find the balance between being the "incredible" parents they were to their children and having time for each other, even if that meant sacrificing sleep.

_Sorry this chapter's a bit short!_


	6. Our Destiny Dec 30th

_**This was Our Destiny**_

_December 30__th_

_Pt. VI_

_I mean no offense to the Duggar Family and truly hope their baby girl, Josie does well._ _Born at 24 weeks gestation myself I know the difficulties Josie can face and just hope that she has a smoother road ahead of her._

While it had taken his wife a while to realize she wanted to be a parent, Eric had always known he wanted a big family. Not one of those "mega-families" like the one in Arkansas, who had their own reality show, didn't believe in birth control and the woman, now age 42, had just given birth to her _nineteenth_ child three months prematurely but a family bigger than the "standard" two children. Both he and Calleigh would roll their eyes at people who said they had only two children because of the price of family packages for trips. Next year the two planned to take their family to Disneyland and they were taking _nine_ people, that included Eric's parents and Roberta. That number wasn't in a vacation package and they didn't care. Even after Ethan was born, when the boy was just six months of age, the two had a feeling that their little family wasn't yet complete. Twins did not run in either of their families so to find out they were going to have a set when Calleigh become pregnant the second time, they were stunned but nevertheless completely thrilled.

Little Zachary Delko may have inherited his father's tan complexion and chocolate brown eyes but it was becoming apparent by the day he had his mom's facial features.

"There, you're all done," Eric said, fastening his son's diaper.

Dirty diapers still weren't pleasant but the father of four was quite used to the task by now. The baby boy grinned up at him, babbling away. Eric was surprised but more relieved that the immunizations, all four, two in each of the child's legs didn't appear to have any negative effects on the four-month-old. Nadya was getting the same shots tomorrow. Eric had his fingers crossed that she wouldn't experience any negative side effects on her, either. Being babysitter-less that day, Calleigh had dropped Ethan and Nadya off at the lab. Chloe spent that part of the day at her friend's house. The team had taken turns watching the kids but Horatio had taken off most of it, taking a two hour lunch. He and Ethan played with dinkies on a colorful foam play mat Horatio had placed there for when his godchildren came by. Nadya had actually cried when she had to leave her godfather.

Horatio then made the offer to look after the kids the following morning when Nadya got her shots, this time at the Delko home since Horatio didn't have to come to the lab till 1:00 that day and it was certain that Calleigh would be finished at the doctor's office and home by then. It was that morning that Ethan and his sister managed to coax their godfather into coming to their house for the New Year's Eve party the following night. Calleigh had asked him earlier in the week but the lieutenant had told her he had to think about it.

"I'll be at your party tomorrow," he told Calleigh, leaving when she returned home. "Two of your four tots convinced me. I'll forgive the fact you probably put them up to it," he smiled.

The two he was referring were Ethan and Chloe. Calleigh had mentioned to her older children to ask uncle Horatio if he was coming to the party. She knew they would tell him they really wanted him to come, and that was all it would take for Horatio to cave on any intention he had of doing anything else on New Year's Eve.

"How'd the little one do?" He said, looking at a sleeping Nadya in her carrier.

"She cried her eyes out at the doctor's and just nodded off before we turned in here. I'd say she's gonna spend the rest of the day sleepin'. Or I hope." Calleigh replied.

"Poor baby," Horatio said, touching a wisp of Nadya's dark hair.

"I trust you at least fed my little monsters?"

"Yes, I did. We had hamburgers. Chloe's out playing in the yard. Ethan's watching _Thomas_ and Zach's gone for a snooze."

"'Kay."

"And what time are the festivities tomorrow?"

"Party starts at 7:00. You don't need to bring anything, but you're gonna bring something for the kids anyway."

"You're comin' tomorrow night, right, uncle H?" Chloe asked when Horatio came out to the yard and tell her that her mom was home and he was going.

"You bet, sweetheart," he said, giving the girl a hug and kissing her brow.

Ethan asked Horatio the same thing when he came to living room before leaving. Horatio could only smile at the children's insistence on seeing him the next night.

"I'll be there, buddy," he told Ethan.

* * *

Back at the lab two hours later Eric was worried about his four-month-old daughter. He had managed to get a call to his wife after getting back from a crime scene. Nadya wasn't sleeping peaceful like her mom had hoped. She had awaken twenty minutes after Horatio left and the sound of her wails it was evident she was crying because she was in pain. One crying baby in pain from needles was difficult enough to deal with, after calling and hearing the infant upset, Chlorinda dropped over and volunteered to stay and look after an upset Nadya so Calleigh could take Ethan, Zach and Chloe to the library for story time. That was only an hour but she was sure the two older kids could use the quiet time and for Chloe getting some new books.

"Did Eric call you?" Calleigh had asked her mother-in-law when the older woman called and then offered to come over.

Eric _had _thought of doing that but one, he didn't want to always depend on his parents for help. Two, he didn't think she were home that day. And yes, he always got scolded when his mother found out he didn't call when he and Calleigh needed help, he got the same lecture every time, too.

"He didn't. And he's gonna heard about that when I talk to him next," Eric's mother said.

Calleigh couldn't help but giggle.

"We're just trying to show you we're grown-ups," she said.

"I know, hija. But you're only human as well. And remember, you have _twins_, that's twice the infant work plus Chloe and Ethan. Cut yourself some slack!"

When grandma arrived Ethan told mommy he didn't want to the library. He wanted to stay with grandma. Nadya was beginning to settle, her eyes getting heavier by the moment as she drank her bottle.

"Take the two of them," Chlorinda said. The grandmother knew that Zachary enjoyed stories at the library, too. "We'll be fine," she said.

"Are you sure?" Calleigh asked one more time.

The look the older woman gave her said "I said _go!_"

Calleigh enjoyed watching how engrossed both her children, even if Zach was a baby, were in the storytime which was done in Spanish. She had to admit her mother-in-law had been right. The time out of the house was good for the two and Calleigh herself enjoyed talking to the other moms. After storytime, the family spent a half hour picking out new books for Chloe. They didn't get books at the library for Ethan. He always marked them up. It was easier and cheaper for them to buy him books new or at the thrift store. The three arrived home to the aroma of chicken drummies, vegetables and mashed potatoes. The parents let their children eat their share of 'junk' but made sure they had healthy home-cooked meals most of the time.

Ethan was sitting at the kitchen table, coloring. Nadya was a short distance away from him in her swing. Calleigh was about to tell Chlorinda that she hadn't had to cook when the older woman said "you had it out in the frig. I figured I'd give you a head-start since you didn't leave me any laundry and the children were busy."

"Okay," Calleigh laughed. "Did Eric call?"

Chlorinda nodded.

"And I gave him an earful like I said I would. He said he'd be home by six. I gave him the message 'bout picking up cheese whiz on the way home. Why was that so important anyway?"

"That's the only way any of the four of us will eat broccoli," Calleigh smiled.

Even for the two adults in the house that was true. Chlorinda shook her head. Before she left she helped Calleigh give Zach and Nadya a bath so she could have that out of the way, have them fed and settled in their playpen before the others sat down for dinner. Calleigh kept her ears open to hear if Chloe and Ethan started fighting. This was usually50/50 if they were left alone. This day though there wasn't any. Moving on from coloring, Ethan was playing with his mega-blocks. Chloe was reading one of the books from the library. Now that she was getting the hang of it, the six-year-old enjoyed reading with her parents in the evenings.

Realistically, getting home for dinner with his family didn't happen as much as Eric would've liked. It probably only happened two or three days a week. If the CSI had his way it would be seven but unfortunately that wasn't how the world of crime worked. Eric pulled into his driveway, stepped out of the car, a grocery bag with two jars of cheese whiz in hand just as his mom was coming out of the door to leave.

"They're waiting for ya," she said, kissing his cheek when she met him in the driveway. "Chloe's got a bunch of new books she wants to read with you."

"Awesome," Eric smiled.


	7. Party Time Dec 31th

_**Party Time!**_

_Dec. 31th - New Year's Eve_

_Part VII_

_Natalia and Eric didn't have a 'fling' in the past in this story!_

Most of the cooking and food preparation for the party was done. Most of the guests were bringing food despite the fact they were told they didn't need to. They had worn the two hosts down and were told what they could bring. Horatio was bringing a few platters of perogies, sandwiches and cookies. The couple had a feeling that there was going to be a lot of left-overs with his parents bringing over hors d'ouvres, appetizers and two Lasagnas, too. With all the food coming up that night Calleigh didn't mind giving the kids frozen fries and hotdogs for a late lunch. She was glad that both Chloe and slept in till almost 11:00am knowing they would want to be much later than usual. Ryan and Natalia were joining the party as well. The couple had to admit they were surprised that their two co-workers had decided to come over at the last minute. Not that they minded though. Natalia and Ryan had been a couple for a while but they were keeping it a secret at the lab. However all their friends knew so tonight they didn't have to keep their love under wraps.

Calleigh teased her husband that she thought their little boy had inherited his father's former lady's man ways from the way that Ethan was instantly taken up with Natalia, taking her by the hand, showing her all his toys, including his new beloved _Thomas_ train set. Natalia told the couple she didn't mind playing with the boy. He was "just too adorable," she said.

Zachary and Nadya followed the same routine and went to bed at the same time. With Ethan totally enthralled with Ryan's girlfriend Chloe had Horatio all to herself when he arrived shortly after seven.

"There's my favorite six-year-old!" Horatio said with a big smile, scooping Chloe up in his arms when she ran into the kitchen upon hearing his voice.

Chloe grinned, putting her arms around his neck and hugging into his shoulder. Grandma and grandpa had yet to arrive so Chloe showed uncle Horatio some of her new-found reading skills with one of the _Junie B. Jones_ books she got from the library.

"You're getting very good at this!" Horatio said, kissing the side of Chloe's head.

_For everyone who loved the child it was a relief that Chloe was such a healthy child. Because her biological mother's "terrible" habits during pregnancy, Chloe had been at risk for breathing problems, stunted growth and learning difficulties once she reached school age. Although no illegal drugs or alcohol ever showed up in the pregnant woman's tests, she refused to exercise anything close to proper nutrition and barely gained weight, on purpose. She also smoked two packs a day. Though his daughter had born apparently healthy, in addition to the exposure to her birthmother's heavy smoking while in vitro, though the baby was a very healthy weight, the physician believed that the little girl had been highly deprived of nutrients and she cautioned it may have some lingering effects on the baby. Thankfully, though she was a bit small for her age, which the doctor also stated could have absolutely nothing to do with her birth circumstances, Chloe didn't appear to have major problems. The only ones being she seemed especially sensitive to cigarette smoke. Her brother was too, but Chloe seemed more so and appeared to be more prone to colds than other kids but academically, she was "extremely bright" and caught onto things very quick, though she did tend to ask a lot of questions, according to her teachers. She wasn't overly hyper, either, just a normal kid. Her parents had a feeling that the six-year-old's almost ultra sensitivity to smoke and more frequent colds was tried to her birth circumstance. _

_Nobody was permitted to smoke in the Delko home. Their kids were only one reason for this, be it the primary one. They didn't want the smell in the house in general. _

It was difficult for Horatio to believe how much Chloe had grown up, he betted it was even harder for the girl's parents. She had gone from an angelic baby to a beautiful little girl who seemed to bring smiles into the lives of everyone met.

Ethan Delko couldn't stay awake till midnight. He was solid asleep on the sofa by nine. His mom carried him to his room, dressed him in his pajamas and tucked him in. Chloe were still wide awake, playing _Sequence_ for kids with Ryan, eating junk food and dancing with her grandparents.

Kissing his wife and daughter at midnight Eric found himself feeling grateful for the past six years, relieved that the first week of this December was over and excited about a new year.


	8. A New Year January 1st REVISED

_**A New Year & New Questions**_

_January 1st _

_Part VIII_

After their oldest daughter went to bed and their guests left. Calleigh and Eric shared a much more passionate, longer new year's kiss. The champagne and chocolate-coated strawberries very much starting to kick in on the way to the bedroom. They didn't a chance for all that much sleep after their fun. Their youngest children were awake for a bottle at seven a.m.. Never fear, they got enough sleep to get through the day and play with the kids because to their pleasant surprise after a bottle and diaper change Zachary and Nadya slept again till eight. Then after another bottle and diaper change for both, the two went back to sleep till 10:00a.m. Ethan and Chloe woke up for the day the same time.

"Why do I forget every year that late night parties capped off by champagne and sex don't mix with small children and early mornings?" Eric groaned, hearing Ethan and Chloe up running around. The two were getting along for the moment. From the sounds they guessed Ethan were chasing Chloe with the plush dinosaur Horatio gave him for Christmas.

Calleigh chuckled.

"That's the reason they invented Ibuprofen," she said. She reached into the drawer of the night table and took out a bottle of medication, opening it and taking out two. She had quite a headache, too.

"Slide me up a double, too, while you're at it, will you, babe?" Eric said.

"Do 'ou dot a 'eadache, papi?" Ethan asked his father at the kitchen table when they were all up. Mom and dad giving the twins a taste of very watery rice cereal. The two would be five months old in a month and appeared ready for something new to their diet. Thanks to the Ibuprofen Eric didn't have a headache now.

"Papi's all right. Why do you ask that, hijo?" Eric asked.

"Grandpa taid 'ou would," the boy replied continuing to eat his fruit loops. "He ted 'ou would 'ave a 'ang-over."

Neither could not laugh at their son's pronunciation of the word. Eric thought his father most likely told Ethan that while he was half in the bag or just didn't remember saying that to the boy. At the end of the night Eric was feeling 'happy' but he had definitely been more drunk before and as much as he was feeling the after-effects this morning, he knew Pavel was feeling _much_ worse.

Pavel smiled when his son called him later in the day. He laughed when Eric told him "my two-year-old son asked me this morning if I had a 'ang-over. He said you told him I would."

The older man laughed. "I don't remember telling him that but I probably did. You can tell him that grandpa is the one with the 'ang-over' today."

* * *

Chloe knew all about the events surrounding her birth. She knew her daddy was told he might be her daddy a month before she was born but someone else could have been, too. Chloe knew he found out he were her daddy when she were eight hours old and that he had come to the hospital and gave her her name.

"Papi?" Chloe asked, sitting on Eric's lap on the porch when they were having a juice box break from playing soccer. Ethan had been playing with them but had decided he was bored and went inside to play with his train.

"What, princesa?" He asked.

"Were you happy when you found out that you were my daddy?"

"Papi was the happiest man in the world that day," Eric said kissing her cheek and squeezing her. "I loved you the minute I saw you. I couldn't stop giving you kisses."

"What 'bout mami?"Chloe asked. By mami, of course Chloe meant Calleigh. "Was she happy to meet me?"

Both older Delko children were as comfortable speaking Spanish as they were English and could switch languages effortlessly. The two often used the Spanish terms "mami" and "papi" for their parents over English.

_The version of her birth story Chloe knew was daddy and her birthmother hadn't knew each other very long, that her birthmother decided she wasn't ready to be a mommy when Chloe was born but daddy was ready to be a daddy. So daddy took Chloe home and then at the age of four days she met her "heart mommy."_

_Calleigh. _

_The truth of how the woman now going by the name Alissa Dobbin, former name Melissa Jakobs felt would only make the child feel bad about herself at such a tender age. Her parents weren't about to allow that to happen. Realistically, the 'nicest' term that could be used for this woman was a "traditional surrogate."_

_Chloe hadn't ever asked a whole lot about her birthmother. She knew the woman's name was Melissa at least it was when daddy met her, that she had blonde hair and blue eyes. All one had to do was look at childhood pictures of Eric and then his daughter. His, Chloe's and Ethan's infant photos were practically identical. There was one in particular of Eric as 4-month-old in only a diaper, laying on his stomach with a white cotton blanket wrapped around his back, his little arms holding him up and his hands under his chin. The parents had the same pose done with Chloe and Ethan at that age and had photoshopped to look older. One would have to look at the back of the back of the photo to see whose baby picture it was. Eric hadn't never shown Chloe Melissa's photo, either. And she hadn't asked to see it. The child had once asked her dad if she looked at all like her birthmother Eric said no. This was just a fact, not blind hate toward the woman in question. He, Calleigh and the rest of the family tried not to "hate" this woman. She **had **given them Chloe and family hate toward her biological mother would effect CHloe's self-esteem. _

_A child psychologist Eric had talked to when Chloe was just a baby had recommended he not show that to Chloe until she was at least a teenager. She had helped him figure out what to tell Chloe at a young age. One of the family's neighbors had said to a five-year-old Chloe "wouldn't you love to meet your birth mommy?" Before either parent could intervene, Chloe said,_

_"I already got a mommy! I don't want another one!"_

_Being the sensitive child she was, when she saw her mommy had heard this exchange, Chloe went over to her mom and gave her hug and a big kiss._

_"You're the best mommy ever," she said to Calleigh._

_"And you're the best lil' girl," Calleigh replied, giving Chloe an Eskimo kiss. "Don't worry, sweetpea. Mommy's all right."_

"She was. You should ask her to tell you all about it. But I never seen her so happy before."

Chloe thought she might ask her mom about this later on if she remembered to. Right now she and her papi were going back to playing soccer.


	9. A Precious Conversation

_**A Precious Conversation**_

_Part IX_

_January 2__nd_

Calleigh felt a lump in her throat when her six-year-old child asked her to tell her about the first time they met. Chloe had climbed into her lap when she sat down the couch. She had just placed Zachary in his swing and Nadya down on her playmat. The twins were most amused in these places. That was one of their more apparent differences at such a young age. Roberta had taken Ethan to the park, both woman hoping the walk there and the activity would burn off some of the boy's excessenergy.

"Papi said that he took me to the lab when I was four days old and that's when you met me first," the girl said.

The first thing that Calleigh told her daughter was her and daddy had been best friends for a long time. But she was afraid to tell him because she was afraid he wouldn't be her best friend anymore. Daddy had told Chloe that some time ago when she had asked how he and mommy met.

"Papi said the same thing," Chloe said.

Calleigh smiled.

"Mommy was so happy hearing that you were here. I couldn't wait to meet you. I thought you were the sweetest baby in the world the moment I saw. I cried I was so happy. When dad bought you into the lab, he insisted I be the first person to hold you."

"He did?"

"Yep. And as soon as I held you, I knew you were my baby, mine and daddy's, no matter who carried in their tummy for nine months. I had my own house but after you were born I spent every night and day with you and daddy. I didn't want to be away from you."

"Papi said that you told each other you loved each other when you came over after you left the lab," Chloe said.

"We did. And we said it at the same time."

"Really?" The six-year-old's brown eyes got big.

"Yep. We had just tucked you into bed and given you a kiss. We looked at each other and we weren't afraid to say 'I love you' anymore. We knew we'd still be best friends, no matter what. Papi's my husband and my best friend."

Chloe's birth hadn't caused them to fall in love. It had just forced to admit it, and either make them start a life together or let each other go and move on.

The two were forever glad they choose the former.

"When did you come to live with us forever?"

Though there were lots of picture of them at their former home, Chloe didn't remember living in their old apartment. She only remembered the house they lived in now. They moved there a few weeks before she turned three.

"I moved in with you and daddy just after you turned two."

"And then I told you that you were my mami," the girl said.

Chloe didn't remember calling her mom "mami" for the first time when she was two-years-old and frightened by a thunderstorm but she had been told about often enough.

"Yes, it was. I always knew I was your mommy and you were my baby. But hearing you say it made me very excited."

"And you always going to be my mommy," Chloe said with complete certainty.

Chloe didn't ask about when Mommy officially adopted her because to her young mind the whole process was just a piece of paper she didn't understand and didn't mean anything to her. The adoption had meant more to her parents because of the security it provided them. Chloe and Calleigh were now daughter and mother in the eyes of the law and nobody could separate the two.

Not that any of Eric's family would ever try.

Calleigh's in-laws "wouldn't dream" of trying to take _any_ of her children from her if anything happened to Eric.

"You're their mother," Chlorinda told her. "Nobody could ever raise them with the love you do."

_"What?"_

Eric couldn't believe what the female patrol officer that just told him. The woman's husband was a stay-at-home dad who worked part-time from home as software developer. The woman just said to Eric she was scared to be alone with her own two children who were ages five and two. When she was alone with them for more than half a day she was cracking up.

She said she _lived_ for her work. Her husband was much parental and better with the kids than her. When she was alone with her children, two boys, she said it was like 'looking after someone else's children, really." She didn't even know them, she said. Or where to find all their clothes or toys, what their favorite foods or toys even were. Spending an hour a day with her boys was "right up her alley."

_Thank god their dad's around_, Eric said.

"I never got used to shitty diapers, snot or puke," she said. "I can't imagine _how_ you and Calleigh change so many diapers and clean up so much mess."

"I wasn't aware someone else was supposed to do it for us," Eric said in a lighter tone than he meant. "And between what I do for a living and my children, I have cast-iron stomach now."

The woman didn't seem to catch Eric's demeanor. She continued, "I guess Calleigh is counting the days till she gets back to the job."

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Calleigh said that two percent of her was excited about it. The rest of her would rather stay home with the kids. However that two percent was a deep passion she still had for the job along with helping the family financially. And unlike some people it didn't bother Calleigh to constantly be called "mommy" instead of her first name, the argument about being a full-time mother "robbing them of their identity" was selfish bullshit to Calleigh. She didn't understand just why other woman "whined" about it. She felt like telling these people to grow up. Though she thought she didn't, Calleigh knew this same woman would roll her eyes whenever she heard her talk about her four children, referring to them as "my babies." Chloe definitely wasn't a baby anymore and Ethan was now a toddler, fast becoming a little boy but to mommy they still were and always would be her "babies."

It was probably just handful of employees at CSI who didn't enjoy seeing the Delko kids visit. They were well-behaved, even if the older two were complete chatterboxes, in two languages. The receptionists always thought it was cute to see Chloe holding Ethan's hand when she exited the elevator, her mother pushing the twins in their stroller, one of the _very_ few times the six-year-old was by her mother to help with her brother. Like his sister, Ethan knew not to run around in the lab and he didn't. The kids knew if they were bought to CSI and they misbehaved, they wouldn't be being bought back. Neither liked that idea. Asking her older child to hold onto the boy was just a precaution.

It would cause smiles in the hall every time, two of the children, Ethan and Chloe looked just like dad, and Nadya and Zachary, except for their chocolate brown eyes and tan complexion were being to look just like mom. Because of the her shorter stature, the employees who didn't see the kids often had a hard time believing Chloe Delko was a six-year-old. The child was talking to Ryan, excited about the field trip she was going on tomorrow to the Aquarium. A casual lab tech knew that trip was for first graders at Dade Elementary, her neighbor's son were in the same class.

"Chloe's _six_?" she asked Eric. "I thought she was only four!"

Chloe had been talking a blue streak since she was two. Her language skills could confuse some about her age if they didn't know her.

"Yeah. She's six. He's two," Eric said, gesturing to Ethan. "I wouldn't tell her you thought she was so much younger," he smiled. "She wouldn't appreciate it."

Something the parents didn't appreciate lately was adults making comments but Chloe's clothing choices being more tomboyish than girly. Like today, the child was wearing pink camouflage print cargo pants and a red _Tonka _t-shirt with dump trucks on the front, a selection from the boys' department which some parents would refuse to buy for a girl. The phases "so what?" and sometimes "mind your own business" were common replies for Chloe's parents.

If the girl was a tomboy who preferred sports over Barbies that wasn't a crime. And neither Eric and Calleigh planned to change anything about their daughter despite the fact some people thought she should be dressed in pink frills all the time.


	10. Laughters & Tears

_**Laughter & Tears **_

_Part X_

_January 3__rd_

_**A little drama..the case mentioned will take up in later chapters! An extended chapter for ya'll since I made you'll wait! The site seemed to be down for a while**__** and wouldn't load my document.**_

A woman had come in to help Eric and Frank with a composite sketch of a robbery suspect whom she witnessed fleeing the scene. She had bought along her baby. The eight-month-old girl, Miley wasn't feeling well. She had a slight temperature and fussing. While the mother worked with the artist and Frank Eric volunteered to hold the baby. He was able to distract her and she had calmed some.

Then it happened. Without warning, Miley threw up on Eric. The baby girl then burst into sobs.

Being a dad, being puked on was nothing new to Eric. It didn't phase him. By the time Chloe were three months of age he stopped counting how many times it had happened. Now with as the father of four, he guessed this figure was somewhere in the six digits or more.

"Oh, my god! _I'm so sorry!_" The woman exclaimed, getting up.

Eric couldn't help but smile.

"That's okay, Miley," Eric cooed to the baby, rubbing her back. "I know what it's like to not feel good. It's all right, really," he told the horrified mother as she took the baby from his arms.

"Just like home, huh, Delko?" a passing lab tech said to Eric when he was walking down the hall to the locker room to change his shirt.

Eric laughed.

"Yeah. Forgot where I was for a moment."

"Your co-worker must have children," the woman said, still trying to hide her embarrassment.

Horatio smiled at her. "You might say he has some experience in this field."

By the end of the day however there was a dark cloud over everyone. Two hours before the end his shift the team was called a scene where the victims were two children. A girl and boy, ages two and three. The two had been reported missing from a neighboring country six months prior by their aunt who had custody of them and was in the process of adoptiing them. Their biological mother had been stripped of parental rights. Both fathers were listed as "unknown."The biological mother had been permitted to visit the children, one last time. Court-ordered, The aunt and foster mother had no choice to let the children go unsupervised. But the children hadn't been returned after a day long visit. The children had been in an abandoned, burnt-out home on the out-skirts of the city. The fire hadn't caused their deaths, though the children were dead before the fire started both children looked malnourished and thin. Alexx couldn't be sure what killed them she had them back at the morgue.

"You all right, man?" Tim asked Eric in the locker room getting ready to leave for the day.

Eric had barely spoken since they had returned from the scene.

Eric exhaled deeply.

"Yeah. I'm just gonna go home and hug my kids."

"Good idea."

Hours later the mother of the two siblings was arrested at a local motel on suspicion of murder. She was opting to remain silent.

For now.

The autopsies of the children would start in the morning and if anything new came in related to the case during the night, night shift would pass it over to the team and they would begin the case again the next day.

* * *

Calleigh Delko had ceased watching the evening news since she had entered the world of law enforcement. She had read the headline about the two children while she had been doing a brief e-mail check. All she could do was shake her head.

And she knew immediately that Eric had worked the case as soon as he walked through the door just by the look on his face. Their young son though was able to put a smile on his daddy's face the moment he saw him. Calleigh had taken both Ethan and Chloe to the dollar store earlier, as she or Eric did once a week, so they could spend their allowance money. While six-year-old Chloe decided to get a puzzle, Ethan had decided to buy a pair of black infant glasses, which he promptly put them on the plush green dinosaur given to him by Horatio, that he now carried _everywhere_.

"Look, daddy! It's H!" He said, shoving the toy at his dad.

"What?" Eric laughed, picking up the boy and hugging him, smiling despite his sad mood.

"H!" The boy repeated, pointing to the shades.

Eric smiled at the boy's imagination.

"Gee, I didn't know uncle H had such short arms," he teased the boy.

"Daddy! Not weally unca H!"

"Hey," he said to his wife, giving her a kiss and huge hug after he put his son down on the floor and the boy ran off. "You look tired."

"Yeah," Calleigh said hugging into her husband. "I am. We definitely have two teething babies on our hands."

"Ah. Then you must have had quite a day, querida."

"I did. Your mom came by for a half hour after the twins' nap. I took Ethan and Chloe out to the dollar store. And by the way, I'm too tired to cook tonight so I told the kids you'd give them hotdogs on the grill and potato salad when you got home. The salad is on the frig."

"Sounds good to me," Eric said, kissing Calleigh's brow. "Why don't you join our tiny ones and take a nap? I'll take the other two out on the deck with me while I barbeque."

Ethan hasn't noticed his father was sad but Chloe did.

"Are you okay, papi?" Chloe asked him. "Do you need a hug?"

Call them a sickly affectionate family but that was the first question asked when one person saw another in the house was sad.

Ethan was playing in the corner of the deck with "Horatio" not listening to his father and sister.

Eric smiled, putting down the barbeque tongs.

"I do, princesa."

He scooped Chloe up in his arms and the little girl wrapped her limbs around him. "Do you know you're one of the two best girls in the world? You and Nadya?"

Chloe smiled and nodded.

"And mami, too?" she asked.

"And mami, too," Eric replied with a smile.

Listening to his kids talk about their day as they ate their hotdogs, Eric tried to put the thought out of his mind but he couldn't grasp how someone could have the malice to hurt a child, let alone take their life away.

* * *

All three other family members were awake the time Eric and the kids were finished cleaning up the kitchen, a quick task being daddy had decided to use paper plates tonight. Now that her eyes weren't so foggy with sleep Calleigh realized something different about her husband. She had both babies in her arms, Zach reached for his father. Eric took him into his arms.

"That's not the shirt you had on this morning." she said.

"No, it's not. I got a short straw and got the puking baby at the lab today."

Eric told his wife about Miley.

She laughed.

"Ladies do love you."

Both Zach and Nadya were starting to learn to turn over and were happy on their tummy, already trying to maneuver themselves across the carpet. Like he had with Ethan and Chloe, Eric had started taking the twins in the pool at four-months-old, one at a time that is.

After Calleigh again had the doctor's approval.

Eric smiled at the motions Zach was making on the carpet, like he were swimming.

"Probably thinkin' "Hey! I do this with daddy and I get somewhere. What's happening here?"" Calleigh laughed.

Zach started to whine out of frustration.

"C'mere, lil guy," Calleigh said, picking Zachary in her lap, handing him a peek-a-book which he promptly started to bite on.

The time was brief but the evening time they got to spend with all their kids, playing on the living room floor was the parents' favorite part of day.

* * *

Sleep was elusive for the couple that night, Nadya and Zach, who would be five-months-old the next day was definitely teething. Their parents managed to get to sleep just after eleven, thanks to baby Motrin. The two didn't like medicate the babies often but there were times they had no choice. Eric knew his wife would make out fine the next morning. Both Roberta and his mother had called at 8:00pm, hearing the both babies crying, both said Calleigh could protest all she wanted, they would be over at 8:30am the next morning to help the mother for the day.

Calleigh had a feeling even if she got to sleep from 11:00pm to 6:00am, and that was if, being one of the children were bound to wake up again, she'd be too tired to put up much of a fight.


	11. Only Once

_**Only Once**_

_Part IX_

_January 4th_

Eric and Calleigh sometimes got compliments on how even their stressful jobs, crazy hours and just the stresses of life in general, the two made it such a priority to just _enjoy_ their kids' childhood. Their children were only this age once, to not slow down and savor this time would be something they would regret. They often heard as well, people envied the bond they had with their children. The children were attached to their parents but at the same time the children didn't show any anxiety when separating from them, expect for the odd occasion.

"You look tired, man," Speedle said to Eric the next morning.

Perhaps it was the fact Eric was on his second cup of café Cubano in less than two hours that gave this away.

"Good observation," Eric yawned.

"The kids or Calleigh?" Tim asked.

"Kids. They're teething."

Being her husband had to work and needed the sleep for the job, Calleigh had got up when Zach woke up at 2:00a.m. and when Nadya woke at 4:00a.m..

"I'm sorry, querida," Eric murmured to Calleigh when she got back into bed at 4:30, referring to the fact he didn't help her out.

"That's all right," she said to him softly, kissing his cheek and cuddling into him. "I'll definitely be taking advantage of the two grandmas being here, today."

Although Roberta wasn't technically "grandma" she was a grandmother to the kids even if they called her "Auntie."

"Good," Eric said, kissing her brow before both fell asleep.

Along with the twins teething, Chloe seemed to be getting yet another cold. She was sneezing and coughing most of the night. By the morning she had red, watery eyes and a runny nose. Eric bought her in a glass of juice in the morning and kiss her goodbye before he left. Kissing Chloe's forehead Eric realized the girl was slightly warm but didn't have a fever.

"Feel better, princesa. I'll see you this evening." Eric made a mental note to pick up Triaminic Thin Strips before he came home.

Chloe just nodded.

Ryan smiled, laughing under his breath, looking at what only be described as a small mountain of prophylactics still sealed in their individual packaging.

"This guy was hoping for a good time. I've never seen so many condoms in my life. I'm not gonna ask before Calleigh, if you did."

Eric grinned.

"Well, Wolfe, if you wanna get into that, I have."

Though not of this cheap no-name brand, Eric thought. The guy must have went to every drugstore in Miami.

_Call him a "man-whore" in his past but being stupid enough to ever have unprotected sex in a casual fling, the Eric Delko of six years prior faithfully had a condom or two in his back pocket. Hence, his familiarity with the pile of contraceptives in front of him. Those days there was often the same sight at his place. He had used protection with Melissa all the times he was with her. Once he knew for sure the condom had broke. He panicked, not thinking Melissa could get pregnant but fearing he could have caught an STD from her. Not wanting his parents to hear about anything, he drove all the way to Tallahassee to be tested, giving an alias and using a throw-away cellphone as a contact number while staying in a motel for three days. Feeling supreme relief, this was the last time Eric had __casual sex. _

_But he was also eternally grateful for that broken condom. It gave him his beautiful six-year-old daughter._

_The first time and many times following when he and Calleigh had sex, it was unprotected. But theirs was different from the beginning. It wasn't just sex, it was making love. When he thought back on it, it was amazing Calleigh didn't get pregnant long before she did._Eric felt bad for his wife's aunt and his mother when he called to check on his family mid-way through the day. His home must have been a zoo, more than usual that was. Ethan was in a sour mood because his grandmas were paying more attention to two fussy babies. Eric wasn't about to ask how many times either had to put the toddler in time-out. Chloe was definitely sick but when he called she and her mom were taking a nap together. Despite the many colds the girl had, she seldom missed school. Eric doubted, being the marine life enthusiast Chloe was, that she would miss her field trip because of a few sniffles.

"I heard my favorite twins gave you are giving you two a hard time," Horatio said to a tired Eric in the trace lab.

"And add to that, Chloe's not well and Ethan's having a tantrum-filled day."

Horatio knew that Ethan Delko was still having a difficult time adjusting to his twin siblings and that Chloe Delko had frequent colds. Contrary to what some parents may have thought, the "stress" Eric would head home to was the kind he'd rather face than any at the lab.

"What's the matter, hijo?" Eric said sitting down on the living room carpet after greeting everyone else in the house.

Ethan was sitting on the floor, playing with his megablocks with a sour look on his face.

"I mad, daddy," he said.

"Wanna talk to daddy about it?"

Eric was glad his toddler was now talking to express that he was unhappy; something he hadn't done most of the day. Ethan then told his dad how he didn't get to play with his mom or grandmas most of the day. They were "too busy wit da 'tupid babies or 'tupid Chloe," he said.

First thing Eric said his brother and sisters weren't stupid and not to call them that.

"Chloe was sick, she needed mommy today. And you were a baby once, too. You had bad days like Nadya and Zach."

It would be have a lie for Daddy Eric to say Chloe hadn't called Ethan "stupid" during that time as well.

"But I still mad, daddy."

"Why didn't you just tell mommy, grandma and auntie that instead of what you were doing today?"

Ethan shrugged his shoulders.

Eric sighed. They were trying to teach Ethan to use his words when he got upset but it was proving to be harder than thought. Roberta didn't seem that surprised with the dilemma of the parents. She told the couple that Calleigh were the same way at their son's age. She did so but had a difficult time holding back her laughter. The boy was so much like his mother.

"But you two are doing a good job. You're trying to be patient and not lose it with him and that's great," she said.

Roberta informed Eric that she were spending the night.

"You have to work in the morning. You're probably not gonna get that much sleep anyway."

Chloe had to sleep sitting up that night she was coughing so much.

"I think I should take her to the doctor in the morning," Calleigh said. "I don't like the sound of that cough."

Eric nodded. "Makes both of us."

A chest cold turned into pneumonia for their oldest child twice in her life. Her parents would rather be seen as worriers and be told Chloe had a regular cold than have to take her in if she got worse.


	12. I said

_**I Said Go Home**_

_Part IIX_

_January 5__th_

The family physician confirmed it.

For the third time in her young life Chloe Delko had pneumonia. But it been caught early, with a course of antibiotics the girl should completely recover.

Again.

Calleigh called her husband when the doctor suspected the condition and again when a blood test and chest x-ray at the hospital confirmed it.

Eric sighed, hanging up his phone. His daughter was a tough kid but he hated the fact she had to go through this. Who knew, if her biological mother had given a shit about Chloe's future maybe the child wouldn't have to endure this. The protocol of antibiotics she would again have to take kept her in bed for two days. But at least they could have her home. The first time Chloe had to be in the hospital for three days with an I.V. Since then the girl was terrified of hospitals and went utterly hysterical and had to be restrained for any needles.

Neither parents could blame the girl for her reaction.

_Calleigh's heart sank when the nurse at the hospital said she wanted to take a blood sample from her child. _

_She asked if it were absolutely necessary. _

_The answer was yes._

_The child's cries while the technician took Chloe's blood broke Calleigh's heart._

_"No, mommy, no! Please! No, no, no!"_

_The mother gave another nurse a death glare when she told Chloe "Good god, child, suck it up. It'll only be a minute. It's not that bad."_

_"I'm sorry, baby girl," she whispered stroking the child's hair when Chloe had herself wrapped around her mom and her face buried in her mother's neck during the the test and still didn't budge when it was over. "You did a great job."_

_Chloe didn't move. She clung to her mom for dear life till they were outside their car in the parking lot and she knew she were going home. Calleigh couldn't ridicule her daughter. Chloe was only six years old, anyone who thought that was an age where the child had to act more mature with an experience like this didn't know what they were talking about._

* * *

"Was that Calleigh?" Horatio said, entering the room. "Chloe all right?"

"Not really. She has pneumonia, again. An x-ray confirmed it. But they're on their way home now."

"Then you should go home, too."

"H-" Eric said, as much as he _wanted_ to go home to his family and distressed daughter, he didn't want to expect to be able to leave work every time one of his children were ill.

"Go home, Eric," Horatio repeated firmly. "And you won't be docked, either. I know that crosses your mind."

Eric did think about that. He had a family to support. But on days like today if he could go home and not be docked pay he would take it.

"Come here, my precious darling," Roberta said, greeting Calleigh and Chloe at the door after she heard the car arrive. She lifted Chloe from Calleigh's arms and embraced her. Chloe had almost fallen asleep by now.

Calleigh had also called her aunt after she called her husband. She was actually glad Eric was on his way home. The fact her husband wasn't getting docked in pay was a bonus. Though her daughter hadn't said anything Calleigh knew Chloe wanted her daddy after such a rough morning. It didn't bother her that the two were so close. She wished she had had such a relationship with her dad as a little girl.

"Daddy will be home in a few minutes," Calleigh said, kissing her daughter's forehead when she tucked Chloe into bed after giving her her medication. "He'll come in and cuddle with you."

"I'll be back in an hour. I'm spending the night," Roberta told Calleigh when she exited Chloe's room after Chloe was fast asleep. "Eric just pulled up."

It was a statement. Calleigh could tell the topic wasn't up for discussion.

"All right."

Chlorinda Delko called that evening as well after hearing what was wrong with her granddaughter. She offered to take the twins or Ethan for the night. Calleigh planned to take Ethan out to McDonald's for some quality time with mommy when Roberta came back.

"Would you like to spend the night with grandma and grandpa? You and Zach? After we go to McDonald's?"

The couple's twins didn't mind being separated and it was good for them to spend time apart.

"Si!" Ethan said excitedly.

Though he was having trouble adjusting to being a big brother in general, Ethan enjoyed spending time with one baby at a time, especially his brother Zach. No matter what her mother-in-law said Calleigh was _not_ going to make her spend the night with _two_ teething infants who still seemed to wake at different times of the night. And in one of their spare rooms at their house, the elder Delko couple had a crib set up in case their infant grandchildren spent the night. Before mom and son went out they packed up things for the two boys' sleep over. All the kids had plenty of toys at their grandparents' home. They packed some clothes and extra essentials for both, some of Ethan's favorite toys from home and a few _Sponge Bob_ DVDs.

"Mami is takin' me to McDonald's. Just me! No little babies or big kids!" Ethan said to Eric excitedly. "And den me an' Zach are going to nana and pop-pop's for a seep over!"

"Oh wow," Eric said, picking up his boy and kissing his cheek. "That sounds like fun." He smiled at his son's comment about "no little babies or big kids."

Roberta was back in less than an hour with a new overnight bag. With Chloe still asleep daddy played with Nadya for a while and then fed her dinner before Roberta gave the baby a bath.

Eric heard Chloe calling out for him or Calleigh when Nadya was in the bath a few minutes.

"Hi princesa," he said softly, leaning down next to her bed. "I heard you had a bad morning. Daddy's sorry he wasn't there. Do you want me to lay with you for a bit?"

Chloe nodded. That was precisely what she wanted. Eric winced seeing the bruise developing on his daughter's arm from her blood test when she put arms around him and snuggled into his chest.

Even though she was sick Chloe could still eat the cheeseburger Happy Meal her mom bought home for her.

"Are you feeling any better, baby girl?" She said, kissing her daughter's brow.

Chloe nodded. She was more awake for a bit.

Calleigh bought home a big mac and fries for Eric so he "wouldn't steal Chloe's fries" she told him.

Roberta was doubtful that the parents should be feeding the child this food at this particular time.

Calleigh shrugged her shoulders.

"There's nothing wrong with her stomach. If she throws up, we'll know we shouldn't have."

The Happy Meal went over just fine with Chloe's stomach.

Putting her child through a blood test, even if it was necessary was terribly upsetting to his wife. Calleigh become emotional when she was recounting the events of the morning. Eric knew that it had to broke her heart to hear Chloe crying for mommy to make it stop and she couldn't. Or the six-year-old's eyes wouldn't make it stop.

"I know, querida," Eric said, kissing her. "But she still loves you."

There was some good news that day though. Chloe's class field trip was postponed for a month. She would be glad she wouldn't have to miss it.

_"Seep over" isn't a typing mistake._


	13. No School

_**No School & First Teeth Times Two**_

_Part XIII_

_January 6__th_

_If you have a weak stomach, you may want to be careful reading later parts of this chapter! __**You've been warned!**_

There was going to be no school for Chloe Delko at least three days. Till the medication started to make her feel better and she was much less drowsy. It was probably going to be five days before the girl returned to school but it could be sooner.

"No school for you today, pumpkin," Calleigh said to her daughter when she gave her medicine at 6:30am.

When Eric went to see Nadya he found out she was much happier than the previous night. When she opened her mouth in a big smile when he picked her up he saw why.

Nadya's first tooth had broke through.

"_Look at you!_" Eric said kissing the baby's cheek. "Let's go show mommy!"

Eric carried Nadya into the bedroom.

"Someone's got something to show you," he said, taking the baby over to Calleigh and pulling down the baby's bottom lip.

"_Goodness!_" Calleigh said, taking the baby and giving her a hug. "You're getting to be such a big girl!"

Eric noticed that now that she wasn't having teething pain Nadya's appetite was much better. When the three were having breakfast in the kitchen minus Chloe who was still asleep, Eric's mother called. She wasn't planning to return the boys till later that morning but she thought that the parents would like to know that Zach had cut his first tooth.

"So did Nadya," Eric said proudly.

When the two boys came home Calleigh realized that both twins had cut the same tooth.

"Must be a twin thing," their grandmother said.

Calleigh agreed. She had to admit it that it was a curious thing.

The two babies were happy to see each other. Smiling when they saw one another, reaching out for each other and touching each other's faces. The two happily played together, ignoring everyone once they were placed in the play pen moments later.

"Hey Eric," Horatio said entering the breakroom. "How's Chloe?"

"She's bit better. Still mostly sleeping but another two days I'd say she'll be back at school. Oh yeah, 'thought ya might like to know that the twins' now have a tooth."

"Really?" Horatio said. "Awesome."

Eric continued to tell his friend how Ethan and Zach had spent the night with his parents Zach returned sporting the same tooth as his twin sister. Calleigh had called him to tell him that detail when he got in.

"I guess that's how it is with twins." The red-head smiled.

As much as Horatio's godson Ethan seemed to love him and spending time with him when Horatio visited the Delko home only twice did Ethan ever decide he wanted to go to Horatio's for a sleep-over. His big sister, on the other hand, would jump at it any chance she got. The boy seemed to prefer sleep overs at his grandparents' house. This didn't bother Horatio. Though both relationships with the kids were very close and loving, they were different. He was amused when he heard the green plush dinosaur of Ethan's that wore black shades and was named after him.

"He finds and scares da bad guys and goes _ROAR!_" The boy told Speed in reference to the toy when he visited with the dinosaur in hand.

"So does your uncle Horatio," Speed smiled.

* * *

Tim Speedle still found it difficult to believe his friends raised four children. That wasn't the biggest number in the world but it was large by today's society standards. As long as he knew Eric Delko he knew the young man was big on family. Tim sensed that, no matter she had said and how dysfunctional her childhood had been, that Calleigh Duquesne also wanted a family. Thinking about Calleigh's mother even made _him_ angry being one of the main things the woman was racist, referring to the couple's younger children as "dirty half-breeds." And more despicable, she called Chloe "Eric's little bastard." She didn't acknowledge the fact that Calleigh was raising the little girl and had long ago formally made the child hers. Calleigh's blood boiled whenever she thought back on when her mother called when she was pregnant with Ethan and Megan asked if they made "the arrangements" for Chloe to go live with Eric's parents or her godfather, Horatio, yet. She thought that now that Calleigh and Eric were having a baby, a "stepchild would only be a disruption." The statement was worse because little Chloe had heard it and thought she was going to be given away. Megan could upset her all she wanted. Calleigh was a grown woman. But when the line was crossed to Chloe, it was the final straw.

Megan Duquesne also only referred to Eric as "the Island Beaner," a common racial slur used to describe Cubans who came to Miami. Years ago when she found out Calleigh had feelings for someone who didn't have blonde hair and pale skin, Megan Duquesne was "appalled." She told her daughter the thought of her raising children with dark hair, dark eyes and a dark complexion was "disgusting" Furthermore, she said if Calleigh had children "like this" they wouldn't be regarded as her grandchildren. Megan had also told her daughter she had to marry a man with money. She hated the fact that Calleigh married a cop. Even though Calleigh was in the profession herself, once she married Calleigh was "supposed to quit her job, hire a nanny to care for the children and be set for life." Along with being rich, the man Calleigh married "most importantly" had to be light-skinned and blonde. The fact that the family "_rented_" their home (Calleigh sarcasticly told her mother she wasn't aware this were a bad thing) and Calleigh would return to work part-time when her twins were a year old, disappointed her. The way Megan said "_public_" daycare verus a private preschool that required uniforms, reference letters and heavy tuition fees, made it seem like the daycare center Ethan would attend part-time in several months was some rodent-infested dump.

Nobody could disagree that the children not knowing this woman was a bad thing. The Delko kids had Roberta and she was a wonderful grandparent.

Eric couldn't stop laughing as he drove the hummer. Speed was in the passenger seat, looking as white as a sheet, looking like he was trying not to puke. At this rate, Speed would _never _survive parenthood. The two had been sent to re-interview a woman who had witnessed an attack on a stranger in a mall parking lot. The woman ran a childcare business from her home. There was a boy Ethan's age standing close to her.

Runny noses always got to Tim Speedle's stomach and made him almost gag. The boy standing next to the woman was feeding himself a chocolate pudding cup as he watched the three intently. Part-way through talking to the CSIs she said to the boy not to eat so fast or he'd get sick.

"Connor has a very strong gag reflex," she mentioned to the men.

Three spoonfuls of pudding, shallowed rapidly a minute later and Connor vomited.

Evidently the boy had Rice Krispies for breakfast.

Out of the corner of his eye, for a moment, Eric thought Tim would follow suit and throw up.

"All the years on the job and you can't handle a snotty nose topped off with vomit. Two days with a newborn would kill you!"

"You can't tell me that that _combination,_" Speed said with the word sarcasm, "didn't turn your stomach and make you wanna retch."

Eric snorted and laughed again.

"That particular _combination_ is nothing compared to what I've seen, or been hit with—"

"_Stop!_" Tim cried, fearing that the father of four was going to vividly describe some vile substance one of his kids had spewed on him at an ungodly hour.

"Fine, fine," Eric chuckled. "Wuss."

"You've been on this job almost as long as I have. How did you get so immune?"

"Parenthood. It shocks you into immunity to _very_ many things _very_ fast."

With four children Tim guessed nothing bothered Eric or Calleigh now.

"What's the matter with him?" Horatio asked Eric, seeing Speed look so pale and going to straight to the men's room when the two came back to the lab. "I only sent you guys out on a re-interview."

Eric told Horatio what happened at the woman's home.

Horatio laughed.

"If he can't handle that, I'd like to see him spend 24 hours at your house."

"Hi daddy!"

Eric was pleasantly surprised and relieved to see his oldest child sitting at the kitchen table, coloring, when he got home.

"Hey princesa," he said, walking over and kissing her head. "Are you feeling better?"

Chloe nodded.

"Yeah. Mommy said I can go back to school the day after tomorrow."

"The day after tomorrow" was Thursday.

Before he had left the lab Eric's boss and the children's godfather asked if Chloe were well enough and if she wanted to, could she sleep over to his house that Saturday. The six-year-old was excited at the prospect of that. Eric hadn't known that during the afternoon his wife had said to their daughter that maybe very soon she could ask Horatio when she could stay over again.

"That's funny," Eric said to Chloe. "Uncle H asked me if you wanted to stay over on Saturday night."


	14. Not in the Manual

_**Not in the Manual**_

_Pt. XIV_

_January 9__th_

_I skipped ahead a little..._

"Where 'ou goin'?" Ethan asked.

He was standing barefoot the doorway of his older sister's bedroom, his green dinosaur under his arm. His sister was putting her pajamas and other things into an overnight bag.

Eric was in the hallway a few feet away with Nadya in his arms. He smiled, eager to hear this conversation.

"This ought to be funny," he whispered to Nadya. The baby girl smiled, not having a clue what her father was saying.

"I'm going to Uncle Horatio's for a sleep over," Chloe said. "Alone."

Ethan's eyes darted to the coveted object on the dresser, his sister's dsi.

"Is dat goin' wit 'ou?" He asked, pointing to the lime green game console.

"Yeah, I'm takin' that with me," Chloe stated. "And even if I wasn't, you can't play with it. I'd give it to mommy and daddy to make sure."

Ethan called his sister a big meany and stomped off.

Eric laughed and shook his head.

_The day prior Ethan had taken Chloe's dsi off the dresser while she were at school. Mommy found him with it in the bathroom. The game console was on the side of the toilet seat. The boy told her that Horatio, the dinosaur, respectively, was using it as a surfboard. _

_As cute as that was, $240 being flushed down the toilet wasn't going make Ethan's parents very happy. Most likely Chloe's godfather would have bought her a new game system and replace game cartridge inside it, being her parents couldn't afford to buy her another one right now. But that wasn't the point. It was a rule that the kids didn't go into each other's room when the other wasn't there. Calleigh knew her daughter kept her Dsi and games in a zipped-up carrying case on her dresser to keep it from her brother._

_"Ethan," Calleigh said, bending down to his level, taking the game console from him and placing it safely away from the toilet. "This is not yours. Where did you get it?"_

_Mommy knew the answer but wanted the boy to say it. _

_"I tooked it from Chloe's room," he said._

_"And are you supposed to go in Chloe's bedroom?"_

_"No. But I wants it, mommy! Chloe neber lets me play wit it!" Ethan replied._

_"I know that. But it's hers. You have toys that you don't want Chloe to play with, remember?"_

_Ethan nodded._

_"Then I'm going to put this back where you found it and you're not to touch it again. Now, I want you to go sit on the couch and not get up till I come get you. Now go."_

_"Otay, mami," Ethan pouted slightly and went to his time-out without protest. _

_That evening Calleigh told Eric "his" son had almost cost them $240 earlier in the day._

_"__**My**__ son, huh?" Eric laughed. _

_Her parents didn't tell Chloe of her game nearly being flushed down the toilet while she was gone. It was better for Ethan that way. She had put it away like she were supposed to. If she had left out that would be different._

This was one of the feuds that the siblings were able to work out for themselves.

_When asked how they handled their children's fighting the couple jokingly told their friends that depending on the volume of the noise from the fight, they'd wait about two to three minutes then they would argue about whose turn it was to intervene, usually the kids were done fighting before they were. _

_"I'm guessing that's not exactly in the parenting manual," Speed said. "What if one of 'em was to push the other over a flight of stairs by accident? You wouldn't intervene when it got too loud, just in case that happened?"_

_`"We don't have stairs in our house," Calleigh said matter-of-factly."For that reason."_

_Then she laughed._

Chloe jumped into Horatio's arms the moment he stepped into the home.

"Hey sweetheart," he said, hugging the little girl. "I love your hair."

Chloe grinned.

Not everyone was impressed with Chloe's new close-cropped new do that ended in the the middle of her ears. Eric's sister told him that the cut made Chloe look too much like a boy. Neither parent cared. they didn't try to push their children in any direction. They just wanted them to be who they were. If that meant Chloe was a tomboy, then so be it.

Both Zachary and Nadya smiled at Horatio, sitting in their activity saucers, showing off their new teeth. Horatio placed Chloe down and went over and gave them both a kiss. Nadya reach out wanting to be picked up. Horatio complied, never being able to say "no" to any of his godchildren.

"You're certainly growing," he said to the baby girl.

Zach was now absorbed in the colorful rings in the front of the saucer.

Eric gave Horatio Chloe's antibiotics and some children's Tylenol in case she needed it.

"You have a great time, princesa," Eric said, giving his daughter a kiss and hug. "Did you give mom a kiss?"

Chloe nodded. "I just saw her."

"All right. We'll see you tomorrow evening. I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Wonder if we can get rid of the other three for the night," Eric grinned, moving Calleigh's blonde hair from her neck and kissing her earlobe when he met her in the living room.

"Control yourself, _Casanova_," his wife giggled. "I think this is good as it's gonna get."

As always Horatio barely had anything in the house so his and Chloe's first stop was the grocery store. Not that he could disagree with them but the team teased Horatio that unless his cupboards were truly bare, the only time he bought any amount of groceries was when Chloe was spending the night with him. Along with other things the two picked up the ingredients to make pizza for dinner. They were going to a Chinese buffet for lunch. Chloe was looking forward to getting to Horatio's. Some new baby ducks had hatched near the pond in his backyard. The six-year-old helped her godfather unpack the groceries before they went to feed the ducks and see the little ducklings.

"I sees seven," Chloe said, pointing to the row of ducklings that swam out from behind the reeds.

"There's another one there, too," Horatio said. "He's a different color than the rest."

The two were driving to lunch and Chloe was telling Horatio how her little brother was being "annoying" lately. The babies didn't get on her nerves so much because they couldn't get anywhere or reach anything by themselves unless it were on the floor. Even then they seemed to just stick it straight into their mouths. Ethan was "_always"_ trying to take her favorite toy, her dsi, even though she and mommy and daddy, too, told him it wasn't his and he was too young to play with it.

"I know, sweetheart," Horatio said, looking at in the rearview mirror at his godchild sitting in the back in a booster seat. "But Ethan's only little and he looks up to you. He wants to do everything you do. You have to try to be patient with him."

"I guess," Chloe sighed.

Ethan was enjoying his parents' attention with his twin siblings asleep and his older sister, whom he told his parents he thought was annoying, was away for the night. It was quite common for the two older siblings to air their grievances about each other. Calleigh and Eric thought the children's relationship was perfectly normal.

_**Notes:**_ _"Neber," "wit," "otay" and "tooked" are not typing errors. It's 'toddler speech.' And for what Chloe's new hair style looks like check out Shiloh Jolie-Pitt's new do! _


	15. Take a Walk

**_Take A Walk_**

_Pt. XV_

_January 9__th__ (continued)_

The two had thought that Ethan would want to go with them to take a walk on the beach and get Italian ice when Roberta arrived that evening to look after the twins. However he wanted to eat popcorn and watch _Cars _instead. He said mommy and daddy could go out if they wanted to.

"Go. Take a walk," Roberta told them. "You two deserve some time for yourselves."

Eric couldn't deny he was enjoying strolling along the sand his arm wrapped around with his wife.

"You ever think that when people send us out on evenings like this that they're hoping for that stray soldier so we have more kids?" Calleigh smiled at her husband.

"Most definitely," Eric grinned.

They didn't plan it but _if_ they had a fifth child they would cherish that child as much as the four they had, regardless of the financial bind. Space wise, being the oldest and with close to six years between Chloe and her little sister Nadya, Chloe was going to have her own room. Zach and Nadya were going to share a room till they were toddlers, then they planned to move Zach into Ethan's room. With just the two year age difference their parents figured that would be the easiest move. Things could be made to work in all areas, no matter what naysayers of bigger families said.

Calleigh's breath caught in her throat when a second later Eric spontaneously grabbed her by the waist, spun her around and kissed her deeply. She smiled as she kissed his lips in return. They spent more time laying in the sand together then they thought. Before they knew it, it was almost eight-thirty.

"We'd better go. Ethan will be mad if we're not there to read him his bedtime story," Calleigh said, glancing at her watch.

Eric looked at his sports watch.

"Yeah. We'd be hearing 'bout that all night."

"'Dere they are!" Ethan exclaimed, seeing his parents pull into the driveway. He was in his pajamas, ready for bed, waiting for his parents, looking out the window, watching for them. Roberta asked if she could read him a story because his parents might not get home. The little boy insisted they would be, because 'daddy said so and daddy doesn't lie.'

While this was unfortunately not true sometimes, like the times daddy couldn't get home from work when he said he would, normally daddy didn't lie. But when he couldn't get home when he had said he would, daddy always called when he was going to be late so the kids weren't waiting on him so much.

"_See! _I tolded you!" He said to his surrogate grandma.

"You did," Roberta smiled.

Ethan made a beeline for Eric the moment his mom and dad stepped through the door.

"Aha!" Eric said with a big smile, scooping the boy up, tossing him in the air.

Ethan grinned. "I wayed for you, daddy," he said.

Calleigh smiled at the way their boy pronounced the word "waited." She thought it was precious how her husband kissed the tip of the boy's house and then hugged him tight. She wasn't offended when Ethan said no when daddy asked him if mommy could listen to the bedtime story too.

"I'm going to take a bubble bath and wash the sand from my hair," Calleigh said, kissing both on the cheek and walking in the other direction.

"Did 'ou and mami play in da sand?" Ethan asked Eric as the two headed for the boy's room.

Eric laughed. They kind of did; they made out and rolled around in the sand for a good hour before they realized the time and decided to head home.

"We went to the beach and laid in the sand for a while," daddy told Ethan.

"Did 'ou see waves?" The boy asked.

"We did."

Ethan Delko knew all about the beach. The family took walks there often.

"What 'bout da sun? Was it still dere?"

Eric tussled his son's hair. Both Ethan and Chloe asked a lot of questions, in both English and Spanish. He betted Zachary and Nadya would be the same when they could speak. Asking questions was a sign of intelligence and as tiring as it became at times Eric or Calleigh wouldn't that about their children.

"It was still there but it was starting to go away."

"It was going to go to seep?"

"That's right, hijo."

* * *

Over at Horatio's Chloe was getting to stay up till 10 o'clock. Earlier in the day the two had gone to a carnival and Chloe won a stuffed monkey. Before she went back home the two were going to the zoo. There was a new litter of tiger cubs at the _Big Cat_ Exhibit. She and Horatio had homemade pizza for dinner and were now playing Snakes and Ladders.

"Did you rig these dice?" Horatio asked as his token sled down another snake.

Chloe giggled.

When it was time for bed Horatio helped Chloe picked out three books for the big selection of storybooks on the shelf in the spare room that had both a double and a twin bed. When Horatio asked her if she wanted to read _Are You My Mother?_ By P.D. Eastman, Chloe shook her head. She only read that book with her mommy she told him. Her godfather smiled, he thought that was sweet. Chloe choose the books _Put Me in the Zoo _and _Because A Little Bug Went Ka-CHOO!_

"Goodnight my precious darling," Horatio said, kissing Chloe's head and tucking the covers around her. "I love you. I'll see you in the morning."

Chloe was fascinated by the three baby tigers on their outing to the zoo. The keeper said that the cubs didn't stay little for long.

_Like Children,_ Horatio thought, looking down at the dark-haired girl holding his hand.

_A little Short! Sorry!_


	16. Just Dad & Mom

_**Just Dad and Mom**_

_Part XVI (16)_

_I've given up putting specific dates on every chapter!_

Eric laughed at the notion some had that the fact he and Calleigh were cops gave them more authority at home with their kids. His and Calleigh's badges were just shiny objects. And for the twins, they were objects they could stick straight in their mouths if given the chance. Ethan and Chloe may have occasionally bragged to their friends their parents were police officers (or 'pease' officers as Ethan said) but they were just dad and mom to their children. Eric joked to his co-workers that their personal badges "lacked jurisdiction" on 34 Mason Avenue. Both he and Calleigh laughed even harder when someone would refer to their children as "little angels."

"_My_ children?" Eric asked a receptionist at the lab once, with a serious expression. "You re sure talking 'bout the right ones?"

At almost seven months old the Delko twins were close to sitting up independently and crawling. A few days ago they had both started cooting across the floor on their stomachs, their short limbs moving at a rapid pace. No one was sure which baby had done this first. But Zachary and Nadya were very quick to mimic one another so figuring that out was next to impossible.

Their counterparts at the NYC crime lab Danny Messer and Lindsay Monroe-Messer kept in contact with the couple frequently. One could say that it was a completely different culture in New York City with the population of over eight million, the clusters of high-rise buildings and the masses of traffic. The Messers didn't think it was practical for them to have more than their little daughter Lucy who was almost one. They thought that maybe, eventually they _might_ have _one_ more child but New York City wasn't the place to raise a big family. Especially since the family lived in a two-bedroom apartment. Neither Danny or Lindsay could criticize the Delkos for having a bigger family though. If they lived in a different area they might have as well. As far as meeting the Delko children in person, the two had only got the chance to meet Chloe and then the girl was only a year old. Still they weren't surprised the two had got married and had three more children in the five years since the New York couple's trip to the sunshine state. Even then the detectives from the big apple knew that Calleigh was the child's true mother and it was only a matter of time before Calleigh and Eric got married.

Chloe answered the phone one evening when Lindsay called for her mom. Eric was still at work and Calleigh was alone with the kids. Calleigh was trying to get Ethan in bed. Calleigh asked Lindsay if she wanted to talk to Chloe, she would only be a few moments.

"Sure," Lindsay said.

Lindsay knew that one-year-olds were vastly different creatures from six-year-olds, but she smiled at how chatty Chloe was. She told Lindsay about her trip to the zoo to see the baby tigers with uncle Horatio, about her class's pet ferret named Franklin and how she had lost another tooth and the tooth fairy left her two dollars. She told Lindsay that daddy had told her all about the big buildings and lots of yellow taxis in the city. Chloe asked Lindsay if this was true.

"Your daddy's right," Lindsay told the girl, smiling on the other end of the line. "I'll e-mail your mom some pictures of the city and some pictures of my baby Lucy."

"Oh yeah! You're Lucy's mommy. She's little like Zach and Nadya. Lucy's daddy is Danny."

"That's right," Lindsay replied.

The little girl chatted with her mother's friend for a few more minutes.

"I'm sorry 'bout that," Calleigh said when she got to the phone.

"Don't be," Lindsay said. "We had a wonderful chat. She's precious."

* * *

Eric sighed.

He was exhausted as he closed his locker to head home. This was the latest time he had finished up at work in a while. It was after 10:30pm. It was going to be at least 11:00pm before he got home. All Eric could think of a hot shower, crawling into bed and holding his wife. Nights like tonight he was beyond grateful to have someone who understood the job. He was irritated at the fact that except for a half hour in the morning he wasn't to see his children for practically another entire day. That bothered him as much as it bothered the kids. He didn't want to wake them but before heading to bed himself he went and kissed all four of his children. Only Ethan woke up when his father gently caressed his hair and kissed his brow.

"Papi," he said sleepily, reaching up for his father.

Eric wrapped his son in a hug. He held the toddler for a few more minutes till he was sure the boy were asleep again.

"Is daddy gonna be home this evening?" Chloe asked her mom when she got home from school.

In an effort to spend more time with at least one of his children Eric had driven Chloe to school that morning instead of her taking the school bus.

"I'm not sure, sweetpea," Calleigh told her daughter honestly.

_But I hope so,_ she thought.

On the long days Calleigh missed her husband as much as the children missed their dad. When Eric was able to sign out at 5:03pm he couldn't get out of the lab fast enough. Dinner with your family and a night of coloring and jigsaw puzzles might sound dull to some but to him it was the very best way to end the day.


	17. Truffies

_**Truffles (Truffies)**_

_Part XVII_

"Ordering yourself chocolates, Delko? Now _that's_ pathetic," Speed teased his friend.

A Fed-Ex order of Chicago Truffles had just come into the lab. Eric laughed, signing for the package.

"If I was to stoop to that level, do you really think I'd be dumb enough to have them deliver here so you could tease me? If you hasn't noticed, it's Valentine's Day next week."

Chicago Truffles or "truffies" as Ethan Delko called them were Calleigh's very favorite and now their son's. One of the boxes was a traditional heart-shaped red one but the other was a smaller one with _Handy Manny _on the front. That one was for Ethan. Chloe wasn't as fond of Truffles, she preferred plain chocolate, something readily available anywhere in Miami.

Despite his teasing Tim thought it was sweet that Eric was thinking of all his family for Valentine's Day, not just Calleigh. Since the littlest Delkos were too young for chocolates, they were getting rattles. And yes, there was to be gifts just for Calleigh and not for innocent eyes. Where Eric would hide those things when he purchased them he had yet to figure out but the chocolates and rattles would stay in his locker at the lab what was labeled 'the most romantic day of the year' a dozen red roses would be delivered to the house while he were at work that day.

_Valentine's Day_

Eric peered over his friend's shoulder.

His buddy has received a box of chocolates and a card, via courier. The card read from a 'secret admirer.'

"Ya forget to tell 'em to sign it 'your secret admirer, _myself,_'" Eric teased, startling his friend. "I would have just went with 'to me, love me.'"

"Oh ha-ha," Speed said.

"But this isn't as bad as if you'd sent yourself a dozen roses. Glad ya thought of that."

Calleigh smiled, biting her lip looking at the bouquet of red roses on the table.

_To the woman whose the beat in my heart, Love Eric xxoxox, _the card read.

That morning Eric had given her a box of truffles. He had given a small box of the same to Ethan and a box of Hershey's chocolates to Chloe. The twins had got soft toys that rattled. Even if her husband was a hopeless romantic she was surprised to receive roses after lunch. She dialed her husband's cellphone number knowing he was probably on his break now.

He was. Eric and Horatio were still teasing Speed about the package he had received earlier.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Eric," Horatio said looking at the card. "This does appear to be your handwriting."

Horatio had received two special home-made Valentines from two of his godchildren. The one from Ethan was a simple drawing of two stick figures, one big and one small. The bigger one with a blob of orange for hair and big black circles for eyes, H's shades, according to Ethan. Horatio kept every drawing and homemade gift that the children ever gave him.

Eric's phone rang in the middle of the bantering.

"Calleigh. Excuse me, I have to take this," Eric said, exiting the room in the direction of the locker room to chat more privately with his wife.

"No phone sex, Romeo!" Tim called after him.

_When Ethan had seen the roses his dad had sent his mom, he asked her why she got them. Calleigh explained that today was a special day and when a man loved a woman he often gave her flowers today. A short while after this exchange Ethan came to his mother and handed her a piece of __paper. On it was three vertical green lines drawn in crayon, each topped off with a blob of red on top, his version of roses._

_ "'Ere mommy," he said. "'Appy Valendine's Day." _

_ Calleigh felt emotion bubble up. She scooped her son up in a hug._

_ "Oh honey! That's so sweet of you. Thank you. I love it."_

"I love the roses," Calleigh said. "Your son has your sweet streak, by the way."

Calleigh told Eric about Ethan's drawing.

"Well, looks like I got competition for you, my lady," Eric laughed.

The couple weren't going to get their Valentine's Day date night till Saturday. Roberta was going to watch the children that night. Friday night was out for Roberta babysitting. This was the first Calleigh had heard of people actually throwing one, but Roberta and some of her girlfriends were having a "I hate Valentine's Day" party at a popular seafood restaurant on that night. Yes, she had _heard_ of them but only as a joke. Personally Calleigh had hated Valentine's Day till Eric had come into her life.

_Next Episode: Valentine's Day Evening with the kids and Mommy & Daddy's Date Night!_


	18. Valentine's Day

_**Valentine's Day **_

_With the Kids_

As much as they were looking to their "us" time Calleigh and Eric were looking forward to a Valentine's Day evening with their children. When the two had a few moments alone in the kitchen preparing dinner Eric told how lab tech James Travers told him and a few others with a horrified look how his son had walked in on while they playing an S & M game in their bedroom. He said the eight-year-old asked them all kinds of questions of what they were doing. The poor parents seemed traumatized. Though they had quite a chuckle, neither CSI could blame them. Travers was worried that his son were scarred for life. Eric told him he doubted that but if Travers and his wife were scarred, he could see why. He personally would be scarred for life having to answer questions like that from _his_ children.

Calleigh laughed. She said she would be traumatized, too. She literally shuddered, just _thinking_ of the questions Ethan and Chloe would ask.

Even with a double lock on the bedroom door, this was _exactly _why they never played these "games" at home unless the kids weren't home. This type of "play" was what they were looking forward to tomorrow night.

Calleigh almost choked on the food in her mouth seeing the expression on Eric's face when Chloe told her father that a boy in her class named Oscar had given her a snack pack of Chocolate Chip cookies with her valentine and asked her if she wanted to play soccer at recess. (She said yes).

"They're _six_, dear," Calleigh told him laughing, afterwards. "They'll likely think that each other are gross tomorrow."

"_They'd better!_" Eric said.

"Relax, daddy," Calleigh replied, hitting him with a dish towel. "No boy is gonna steal your daughter yet!"

* * *

_**Valentine's Day**_

_For Mommy & Daddy_

Both the Delko twins could now sit up briefly without support and with the speed they scooted across the carpet Roberta was going to have her hands full. Nevertheless, the older woman assured them she could handle it. Chloe had soccer on Saturday, Horatio offered to drive her there, stay and take her home afterwards. Ethan was getting to spend the afternoon with his "best buddy and partner in crime" his four-year-old cousin Elijah. The two boys were going to spend the day at a children's play center and go the boys' favorite restaurant, McDonald's. No one was going to ask whether Horatio minded spending time with Chloe.

* * *

Calleigh's back was pressed up against smooth surface of the hotel room door the moment it was closed and locked. Bags swiftly dropped on the floor and kicked aside. She smiled, sucking in her breath under her husband's hot, passionate kiss. It was moments like this if they were the type to not believe in birth control they would have six or seven children by now. They had each other naked and Calleigh had her husband straddled on the bed in less than a minute. Eric grinned at his wife, flipping her over pinning her on her back to the mattress.

Eric moaned as his wife left a bite mark on his neck, knowing she only did that when she was in a _very_ heightened state of arousal. It pleased him that he could bring to this point. It was going to a fun weekend.

Calleigh had a plan. After an hour of steamy "appetizer" sex and an order of room service, she said she were going to take a shower. Knowing her husband would quickly fall asleep.

Eric was snoring softly when she exited the bathroom, a pair of handcuffs in her hand, one of several things purchased at the adult store. The headboard had rails. Calleigh carefully and slowly lifted his left arm over his head and cuffed his wrist. He still didn't wake. She slipped the chain around one of the rails and proceeded to snap the other cuff onto his wrist. Eric only awoke when the felt the faint touch of a short leather whip touch his bare chest.

"Cal, What the-" his eyes grew wide to see his wife in full dominatrix attire with red trim. He then realized his hands were tied. He looked to see the cuffs. He opened his mouth to say something more but Calleigh strapped a leather gag around his face.

"Shh," she told him.

Eric's eyes twinkled and he smiled through the gag.

It certainly_ was_ going to be quite a weekend.

"How was it?" Calleigh asked her husband. She was now out of her dominatrix outfit and naked under the covers with Eric. "Did I punish you too hard?" She grinned.

"On the contrary," Eric grinned. "I'd like to be punished like that more often."

There was something to be said for things they couldn't do at home.

Who says parenthood kills sex?


	19. Whipping Boy

_I'm still working on the second installment of the __**Family Life Series**__, I hope to have it posted soon!_

_**Whipping Boy**_

_More kinky Valentine's Day fun for our couple!_

Eric didn't mind being Calleigh's whipping boy. In fact, he was hoping that it was going to go on for a bit. His wife didn't often take control like this in the bedroom and he enjoyed it when she did. He was more than willing to let her have this control the whole weekend. Eric wondered when Calleigh had gone to pick her attire and accessories at _Mistress Cassandra's House of Intimate Pleasure_s. He also wondered where she had hid it, more importantly where she had hidden it before their weekend. And how she got it to the hotel without him noticing.

_It was the Wednesday of that week when Calleigh had gone shopping. Calleigh had told her aunt she was going to buy Eric his Valentine's Day gift. She might be a while. When Roberta had asked what she had bought for her husband Calleigh's answer with a sly smile was "never you mind." Some woman she knew who were also moms told Calleigh that they felt uncomfortable engaging in the kind of 'play' Calleigh were prepared for after their kids were born. Calleigh couldn't understand why. She wasn't just 'mom,' she also a woman. Her children was nowhere around when she and Eric were having their fun, with or without gear. Plus, even if they were first and foremost parents, they also a couple. Them taking care of their own relationship was only going to benefit their children._

_Roberta smiled to herself thinking that the two were going to have shed their mommy and daddy titles for a while and have some X-rated fun._

Eric hadn't exactly had anything in mind for what he wanted for February fourteenth, just time alone with his Calleigh, no matter what they did. He was glad she had thought of this. It was proof of how well she knew him. Her head lay on his chest, he gently caressed her hair with the tips of his fingers, just how she liked it.

"You're unique, you know," she smiled up at him. "Most Whipping boys wouldn't do this for this for their mistresses."

"That means you're very good at what you do," Eric chuckled.

"I could always change careers but I don't think any other clients would bring out my talent." Calleigh teased.

"That and I'd probably blow my whole damn pay check comin' to you," Eric teased back.

Leather whips weren't planned in all their fun, though there was more that to come. They had got an early start and it was just Saturday afternoon. Check-out was till 11:00am on Sunday.

* * *

Around dinner time the two headed down to the restaurant where they had reservations. To their astonishment, they saw Frank Tripp there with a woman.

Maxine Valera.

Frank and Maxine were just as shocked, and quite flushed in the face to see them. Of all the hotels in Miami, they had to chose the same one. The now-outed couple told their friends that they had been dating six months this weekend. How the CSI couple hadn't picked this up made them wonder. When they thought back, either their skills were seriously slipping or Frank and Maxine had been exquisitely good at hiding their relationship. Only three small things seemed to stand out for the Delkos, unlike themselves who were so transparent about their feelings for one another prior to getting together, there were no "little looks" or smiles between Frank and Maxine, that they _thought_ no one at work noticed, unlike themselves. However both Calleigh and Eric did remember a few times when Maxine called the detective "Frankie" and he called her "Max."

No one _ever_ called Frank Tripp "Frankie," except maybe his mother. And while Alexx Woods always called Maxine by her first name, everyone else at the lab called her by her last name. Then there was the time that when Maxine and Calleigh were talking about men and Maxine commented that she found bald men "hot." (To which Calleigh gave an odd look.) Frank had told Eric a woman with the knowledge of "every branch of the family tree" and short hair "very attractive."

Even if Calleigh or her husband hadn't pieced this together and teased their friends, they were happy for them. Eric joked that Rick Stetler was really going to have "his tighty whities in a knot now."

_Shortly after Chloe Delko was born, there were new members elected to the Internal Affairs Board and the "no fraternization" rule was called into question. Rick came to find out that not many on the board agreed with the regulation. It was again put to a vote and swiftly thrown out. And Furthermore, anyone in the workplace was to give a couple a difficult time or create a hostile work environment they could be sued or face disciplinary action, and possibly be fired._

The respective couples were left to their own private meals after a few moments. Each couple wondering what the other had planned for the rest of the weekend, but not wanting to think in too much detail.

* * *

As for Calleigh and Eric, they were heading out of the hotel for a bit, they had tickets for a David Copperfield performance. They might take a stroll on the beach after if it wasn't too dark by then.

Eric was looking forward to hopefully being tied up again at night fall.

And was it ever worth the wait.

Again she tied him up after he dosed off.

This time he thought she actually hopped in the shower, or at least ran it, before putting on another costume. This time a black leather bra and thong. She exited the bathroom with that covered her short black silk robe. This time Eric didn't wake after being cuffed or when he was being straddled, he woke when Calleigh was blindfolding him with a silk scurf, again when he automatically tried to speak waking up, the leather gag was inserted in his mouth.

He grinned again. No knowing what was before him surged more excitement into his toned body. He felt the hint of silk touch his legs before he heard an article of clothing fall to the floor. He squirmed with the cuffs to no avail.

In response he felt the leather whip from the morning lightly hit his chest.

That was misbehaving to Madame Calleigh.

Still, her submissive smiled.

Sometimes being bad was fun.

He shivered lightly feeling cool liquid that had the hint of strawberry poured onto the area that just been touched by the whip. He felt his wife's fingers rub the lotion and the tips of her fingernails touch around his nipples.

"Cold?" She whispered in his ear.

The sensation made him bite down on the leather gag and cause more blood flow to his lower region. If his wife needed a fall-back career she could mostly definitely make money at this.

Calleigh removed the silk blindfold to her husband's widened-eyed expression. If Eric thought the dominatrix outfit was a turn-on, this one was even better. Two pregnancies hadn't done a thing to lessen the sexiness of his wife's body to Eric.

"Did you enjoy your Valentine's Day gift Mr. Delko?" Calleigh asked him sweetly afterward.

"Yes, ma'am. I did," Eric grinned. "I just hope my wife doesn't find out."

_I know some think Tripp/Valera are a weird couple but I think different mixes of couples spices up the story!_


	20. Perfect

_Installment inspired by Adam Rodriguez's opinion of children's beauty pageants in this link to next week's promo!_

.com/tv/116619_A_Kids_Beauty_Pageant_Turns_Ugly_on_CSI_Miami/#

_ Go Adam! I agree with you hundred percent!_

_**Perfect Just the Way You Are**_

_Characters from __A Very Delko Lfe_

"Kiddie" or "baby" beauty pageants sickened Eric Delko to the core. Using your child as your personal dress-up doll and putting on layers of make-up, fake nails and fake tans and oh yes, don't forget the 'flipper' or cover up imperfect teeth, to parade a little girl around like a miniature hooker was the most disgusting thing that was legal.

It should be a crime. There was no "grey area" for him at the topic, he had _zero_ tolerance for it. It was child exploitation at it's worst.

The second the show _Toddlers and Tiaras_ came on the television he had to change the channel or turn off the set. He and Calleigh were told constantly that their two daughters, six-year-old Chloe and ten-month-old Nadya were "astonishingly gorgeous" and that they should enter them in pageants. Once the girls become women they could do whatever they pleased but there would no pageants for either girl for the next eighteen years. Her parents didn't know about Nadya just yet but being pageants had explosive amounts of pink and frills, two things Chloe Delko loathed the most in life, plus the fact wearing sneakers was frowned upon by pageant judges Chloe wouldn't fit in anyway.

The couple had all their children to the park one day after they had worked a case where a "baby beauty pageant" mother's was found dead. It turned out to be an accident but the whole pageant angle still left a bad taste in the Delkos' mouths. The parents learned that there was "kiddy" pageants and "baby" ones that catered to children Nadya's age.

This was even more vile than the two first thought. The _hell_ they would put _make-up_ and _hair extensions _on Chloe, left alone Nadya. Chloe's new pixie cut wouldn't be popular with pageant judges. Eric's parents and sisters complained all the time that they let Chloe cut her hair too short, that her "pixie cut" hair style made her look too much like a boy. This combined with the fact Chloe _hated_ dresses and shirts and flat out refused to wear them caused Chlorinda Delko to ask whether her granddaughter was "gender confused."

All Eric and Calleigh could do was laugh at this.

"She _knows_ she's a little girl, mom and she is perfectly fine with it. You're not here all the time. Chloe might not like baby dolls or barbies, but you don't see the other games she plays. At _worst_ she's a tomboy and there's nothing wrong with that. "

Eric or Calleigh dare not tell Chlorinda that Chloe could beat half the boys in her karate class at sparring. This made mom and dad proud. As long as she didn't use any of the moves on her siblings there wasn't a problem.

* * *

Ryan and Natalia were no longer keeping their relationship a a secret. Partly because they now wanted what Eric and Calleigh had.

A family.

"Can I ask you a question?" Ryan asked Eric at the end of shift.

"Sure. What's up?" Eric asked. "You and Nat doing all right?"

"Oh yeah. We're great. I wanted to ask you, is parenthood everything you thought it would be?"

"More," Eric said. "In many ways. Why? You guys thinking about having a baby?"

Eric knew that Ryan and Natalia's relationship had been going on for a longer time than they were open about it.

"We've been talking about it. We don't know if we'd have as many as you two, though."

Eric laughed.

"Nothing wrong with that. We're just gluttons for punishment."

Eric couldn't see his life without being a dad. He knew that his wife could say the same about being a mom. Children could be a handful and exhausting and make you worry but they gave back joy ten-fold.

"You guys think you'll have more?"

Eric laughed and shook his head.

"I think we're done. But ask me again when Nadya and Zach aren't babies anymore. We might be broody again."

That was true. For now at least, not to forget the vasectomy only a few knew he had which could be undone, but for now four children was plenty for the couple.

Natalia was also talking to Calleigh about parenthood. She thought the Delko children were the sweetest kids in Miami. She had seen something change about Calleigh when she became a mother. She lit up at the mention of the baby girl named Chloe. Everything was now about the baby girl and Eric.

Calleigh knew Natalia would make a wonderful mother and hoped that she and her lover would have children.

Even if they didn't get married or even engaged first.

Four months later still without a ring, Natalia announced she was pregnant. It was thought that the pregnancy was a result of sex in the back of the hummer in the parking garage of the lab. The expectant couple laughed at this but knew it was possible.

When Ethan Delko heard he was going to have a new cousin, he also asked if he was going to have another sibling. His parents laughed.

"No, honey," Calleigh laughed. "Mommy and daddy are finished havin' babies."

_Maybe_, she thought.

Either way the Miami-Dade CSI family was getting bigger by at least one.


End file.
